The Marauder Chronicles
by C.K. Talons
Summary: COMPLETE "They say that the world is a wonderful place, full of love, happiness and joy. Until recently I believed that. But times have changed. What they don't tell you, is there are people out there who are more like monsters...
1. THE SIXTH YEAR: Potter vs Snape

*** The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn't to be sold, reproduced or taken as true to the events leading to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The main characters and most locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. No copyright infringement is intended. This story was published and written before the release _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix._ All facts released in OoTP have not been incorporated into this story.***

Note: Grammar under construction. Nothing will be added (plot wise) but some will be subtracted and made better.  
  
  
  
"_They say the world is a wonderful place full of love, happiness, and joy. Until recently I believed that. But the time has changed. What 'they' don't tell you is there are people in our world who are more like monsters; people who dedicate their lives trying to cast the world into the fires of hell. How should that effect you? Perhaps it doesn't. Perhaps you have been fortunate enough to be born in a time when Dark Magic is scarce; when you don't fear evil knocking on your front door; when you can watch your children play, and your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren grow old. Perhaps you have been lucky and were born after a gift to the world was given._

_The world has changed over the past five years. People are out celebrating the prosperous time. The exploding fireworks, shooting stars, and the documenting of history are now only pastimes. Most people of the wizarding world are happier than they can ever remember in this age, all due to one event. Do they care how it happened, or _that_ it happened? Do they care who was involved in the story, or the end result? The answers vary. But I can tell you this: he did not expect it._

_Lord Voldemort, the only known heir of Salazar Slytherin, began his great journey and quest for immortality and world domination many years ago. In his reign of power he and his followers killed more than one hundred, all of whom were guilty of being good, of being kind, of being right. Everyone wondered if he could be stopped, or if there was ever a person who could defeat him._

_Auror after Auror died trying to slay him, but he was too fast and powerful. He laughed coldly as he watched their lifeless bodies drop to the ground, then stepped over his victims to kill another. He seemed unstoppable. The world waited, hoped, and prayed for someone to disrupt his growing shadow. And they got it much sooner than expected._

_But all of this you already know. There is not a witch or wizard who doesn't know the story of Voldemort's overthrow; it was too profound to be forgotten. All in all lives improved across Europe as the word "Voldemort," was scarcely uttered. But I know of at least three lives which changed for the worst the day he fell. No one seemed to care about their lives, the ones who shaped the story, and I don't blame them for that. After all, it is only three. What of it?_

_But what is life? What is love? What is sadness? I have come to tell you that I know all three. Life is more than breathing air and squinting into the sun. It is precious and should be lived with no regrets. But there are few of us who can achieve that. Love is life. Once you have found it you will never be able to let go. It gives you air and hope when all else is lost; transforms doubt into faith, and darkness to light. And sadness? Well, there is nothing more devastating than staring into the lifeless eyes of your two best friends, as I have done. It is a moment I will never forget; it haunts me at night and in the light of day. It is something I wish upon no one. _

_I want to tell you a story, the story that started it all. The story of six wizards who changed the wizarding world for all time. A story of friendship, rivalry, jealousy, betrayal, comedy, and of course love, the greatest magic of all. You all know how it ends and what happens afterward, but this is the story that shaped history, for every legend has a beginning..._."   
  


The Marauder Chronicles  
  
Part one: Potter vs. Snape

"Trickery and Sorcery; the difference is not always clear."

The class bell sounded loudly throughout the corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The end of a long week had finally arrived and students of all years were thrilled to be done with the first week of the school year. Door after door swung open wide to allow the endless flow of students to spill out into the hallways. It was the weekend; it was a time to relax, to have fun, or a time to contemplate nothingness. But for others it was the ideal time for a nasty attack.

Our first story begins down the charms corridor where Professor Flitwick's class had just been released, and four Gryffindor sixth years exited the class to start their way down the corridor. On the far other end of the building, another class had been released, and two Slytherin sixth years shuffled out of their classroom. These six young students, oblivious to the world outside of their conversation net, had no idea that they were on a collision course. Not paying attention to exactly where they were going, the Gryffindors and the Slytherins collided in the middle of the corridor. Books and papers that a Gryffindor student had been carrying were now littering the floor and feet of Severus Snape. 

"Why don't you watch where you're going, you ugly git?" said James Potter as he bent down to pick up his books and other paraphernalia. Once he collected everything, he raised himself up slowly and stared into Snape's cold black eyes. The once noisy and busy hallway suddenly fell desperately silent, as all of the Hogwarts students were watching the scene with rapt attention. It was, after all, well known that Severus Snape and James Potter hated each other like poison, so naturally whenever the two bumped into one another, there was plenty of entertainment.

"You ran into me, Potter. I suggest you keep out of my way," said Snape with a curled lip. His black eyes narrowed as he stared ceaselessly into James's blue eyes. Sirius edged nearer to James, if his aid was required. Following the act, the blonde Slytherin standing next to Snape did the same. James opened his mouth wryly to say something insulting, when Professor McGonagall entered the scene.

"What is going on here? What are the six of you up to now?" she asked.

There was a long pause which added to the tension filled silence, then James turned to look at the professor and gave her a charming smile.

"Nothing Professor. Mr. Snape just ran into me, that's all. We were just leaving." And with that, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter filed out of the way and made their way down the hall. 

The excitement was over and the students resumed their normal routine.

But Snape knew something that everyone else did not. He watched James and his followers depart, then slowly he smirked, gazed down at the ground, and moved his foot to reveal folded parchment. It appeared to be some kind of letter. Snape bent down to snatch it. He looked at it longingly with vicious eyes. "James" was handwritten on the front in green with a small was a wax seal on the back keeping it closed.

"Well, well, well," said Snape with a sinister grin. "What do we have here? I wonder who this could be from." Slowly, Snape turned the other direction and began to open the letter. Once the wax seal was broken, he began to unfold it. What happened next was a complete shock.

Written in the center of the paper in loopy writing was "_Naughty, naughty! You should never read mail which does not belong to you, Severus_." Snape turned to look at his friend, who had a bewildered expression upon his face. It took a while for Snape to register this thought, perhaps too long, for just then a huge fireball erupted from inside the letter and singed Snape's greasy hair. Scared, Snape cast down the parchment and began smacking his head attempting to rid the burning sensation from his scalp. But then the fire mutated into a flaming, roaring lion which lunged for him again.

Snape fell hard on his bottom and scrambled backwards on his hands and feet while keeping his eyes focused on the lion of flame. He was so surprised that he didn't notice the entire hallway, full of people, was trembling with shrieks of laughter all aimed for him. Once Snape was flat against the castle wall, the lion ceased to roar and instead it smirked. Seconds later it was gone in a pungent poof of black smoke.

He was breathing very fast; he could hear his heart beating rapidly in his eardrums, while the laughter of the school was beginning to leak in. Snape looked for the letter, but it was gone. Then he gazed at the large bunch of students of all years rolling with mirth at him. He could not feel more humiliated. Then his friend gave his hand to help him up, only to rise him to a much more horrible sight.

Not more than 25 feet away from him were the four people he hated most. Remus and Peter were buckled over with laughter; Sirius gave a huge grin, and James, the person he hated detested more than any other, gave a satisfied smile. Then he turned to Sirius, laughed, and slapped his hand in the most congratulatory "high five" in history. With that, they ogled Snape one last time, turned, and walked off. Nearly every student shook James's hand as he sauntered down the corridor.


	2. The Angel

*** The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn't to be sold, reproduced, or taken as true. The main characters and most locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. No copyright infringement is intended.***  
  


Part Two: The Angel

"Never let love pass you by."

"These test scores are atrocious," Professor Sprout exclaimed on Tuesday morning as she handed out last Friday's exam. "I thought we had covered the uses of the Transforming Red Tulips thoroughly, but according to these tests..." she said as she dropped a D in front of Kyle Mathews. He almost fell over backwards when he learned his result. "I can't remember having a class that tested so poorly. It is the beginning of the year, for crying out loud." She walked over and placed a F paper in front of a hysterical Britney Carlson. "But some of you," she continued moving over to the four Marauders, "did exceptionally well."

"What do you think?" Sirius whispered to James.

"Even," he replied.

"Five galleons says James beat you," Remus said. Peter nodded.

"So the bet is five galleons," Sirius said to James. "What do you think?"

"I don't know, even maybe." They didn't have to wait long. Professor Sprout walked over and placed James and Sirius's test papers in front of them. She smiled brightly. "Nice job boys."

"Damn," Sirius mumbled, looking over his test. He had an A; a single red mark was on the very last page marking off one point.

"Yep," Remus said looking at their two papers, "just as I suspected. That'll be five galleons."

James looked over his test; no marks rested on any sheet of paper, save a large "A+" on the top of the cover. He casually laid the test down in front of him and sighed. 

"How did you fair, Peter?" James asked, looking down the table at his short and chubby friend.

"I got a C, as usual. I guess I didn't study hard enough." He put the test face down and shook his head.

"Don't worry, Peter," James told him. "I'm sure you'll get it right one day."

"No I won't. I'm not that smart."

"I can't believe I missed this question!" Sirius nearly yelled having completely ignored the conversation around him. "How could I miss a question about the breeding season of the West Indian Snapdragon?"

"How did you do?" James asked Remus, ignoring Sirius.

"Pretty good. B+, better than many people in the class," he said looking around at his classmates.

James turned around and leaned back in his chair, as if trying to get a glimpse of someone, when the back legs slipped and he started to fall backwards.

Sirius didn't need to raise his eyes from his test; he put out his hand and caught James's chair.

"We're still in class, Prongs. Try not to kill yourself," he said casually setting the chair upright.

"Thanks," he replied sarcastically.

"Don't mention it," Sirius said with a grin. Moments later the bell rang, which couldn't have come sooner for most of the students in Green House five.

Peter stood up first and made his way over to James, who raised himself up, straitened his robes, and observed the flooded doorway. 

"Well," James said, looking at the door, "I guess people are hungry."

"Or depressed that they failed the test. Either way..." Remus said, as he took his place next to James and followed the mass flow of students back up to the castle. 

"Sirius," James started, turning around to see him, but there was no one there. 

"James," Remus said, pointing behind him, "he seems to have found a lady friend." James whirled around and saw Sirius talking to a very gigglesome blonde girl.

"Oh for goodness sake, not again," James groaned. "Lets just leave him to it, shall we?" He motioned for the three of them to go and in no time they were heading through the doors of Hogwarts. 

"How long do you think this one will last?" Remus asked.

"Oh, lets see..." James said in mock concentration. "Well, by the look on her face and the instant attraction on his part, I hypothesize that he'll have a date with her this weekend, then he'll smother her in charm... Couple of weeks tops."

Sirius came running after them down the main corridor that lead to the Gryffindor tower. He was grinning like a fool.

"Guess who has a date this weekend?" he asked enthusiastically, clapping James on the back.

"Oh don't tell me this one, I really want to figure it out for myself," James said sarcastically, glancing at Sirius. "What's her name?"

"Hannah. Same backwards and forwards," he said.

"How original of you. I have a question for you, Sirius," James said. "Where does one go on a date at Hogwarts. I mean there is no where to go...so what do you do on these countless dates?"

Sirius gave him a funny sort of smile. Remus and Peter turned all of their attention onto him. James continued. "Well, Sirius, where do you go? It's a reasonable question that deserves a reasonable answer."

"It's a secret," he replied with a knowing smirk.

"Where _do_ you go?" Remus asked. "I have always wondered. You would never take her out of the school through one of the tunnels, so you must stay here, but we never see you."

"And you never will," he retorted. "Once the three of you meet up to my standards, then I will consider letting you in on my secrets of dating success."

"Hannah, huh? She smart?" James asked, eyebrow raised.

"She's of average intelligence," Sirius said with a hint of defensiveness.

"How did she do on the Herbology exam?"

"Fair."

"Fair? Sirius, you're a smart person-- you should see someone who's smart, maybe then your relationships would last longer than three weeks," James said seriously.

But Sirius just laughed. "I know you're jealous, but please don't advise me on something that you have no experience with, all right?"

"You hurt my feelings," James said insincerely.

"Sorry," Sirius replied flippantly.

"You really did, I'm looking after your happiness and you take my head off. _Honestly_." But he didn't mean it. "Did you study history last night like you said you were going to do?" James asked, changing the subject.

"Nah. I talked to Michelle instead. Do you know that Muggles can fly from one country to another in a jet? Do you know how much money it costs to run that thing? The stuff they do to avoid magic..."

"Well I studied," James said, not acknowledging what Sirius had said. "Binns might have a pop quiz, you know."

"If you were studying, then I'm the Queen mother," Remus added. 

"No kidding," Sirius said with a smirk. "You were not studying. I saw you last night; just glanced at you every now and again."

"I was too," James replied defensively. "Go on, ask me anything."

"Fine." Remus contemplated then came up with a question. "Who battled Sheena in the Great Goblin War of the sixteenth century?"

James looked at the three of them for a while, but said nothing.

"Ha!" they exclaimed. "We knew it!"

"Oh shut up. So I don't know one question, big deal. Ask me something else."

"This one is far simpler," Remus said, trying to keep in a smile. "What color are her eyes?"

Sirius gave him a high five and chortled. Peter sniggered a bit.

"Laugh it up," James said, nodding his head. "Very funny. Ho, ho, ho."

"You were studying, but it wasn't history," Sirius said. The four of them went up to Gryffindor tower to get there history books and drop off their Herbology ones. Then they went back downstairs and headed for the Great Hall. 

"Hello, Michele," Sirius said, waving to a blushing blonde girl who started giggling with her friends as soon as they passed Sirius.

"Why do they all do that?" Peter asked James quietly so Sirius could not hear them.

"They don't _all_ do that. And I have no idea as to why some of them do."

"It's because I'm handsome, Peter," Sirius said confidently, as he smoothed his hair back with his hands. "They look at me and melt. The secret is to smile... a lot. Girls love that. You should really try it some time."

"Don't listen to him. He knows as much about a woman's mind as the rest of us do," Remus told Peter. James nodded in agreement.

"Sirius," an energetic girl said, running over to greet him. "I researched the Bohemia Demon potion for you yesterday. Only I think I could do better if next time you did it with me." She flipped her hair casually and beamed, revealing every single shiny white tooth.

"Sirius," James said loudly. "Sorry to interrupt, but we do have lunch to attend. You see, it only comes once a day."

"You three go on without me. I'll be there in just a second." And without even looking at them again, he started walking in the opposite direction with the young girl.

"He's amazing," James said sarcastically. "He makes a date with one girl, but has dozens of others on hold."

"I wish I could do that," Peter said.

"No you don't. He'll tire of it eventually," James replied, looking back to see Sirius and his adoring admirer.

"And he'll probably regret it some day when it all catches up with him and knocks him in the conk," Remus said, a small smirk appearing on his face.

"You're probably right," James said laughing a little. He could hear a running footfall coming behind him.

"Too many women and not enough time," Sirius said once he caught them. He hit James on the back and started to walk beside him. "I'll be studying with Tina tomorrow evening. She is something else."

"What happened to Hannah?" Remus asked. James and Peter looked to see Sirius's face.

"Who?" Sirius asked, looking confused. "Oh, yeah," he said suddenly remembering. "She's this weekend."

"You're sick," said James shaking his head, but grinning nevertheless. "How can you do that? One of these days you're really going to mess up. You'll kiss one girl, call her the wrong name, and she'll deck you. Then you'll come running to me with your sorry excuses telling me that I was right, and you know what?"

"You'll shut up?" Sirius suggested.

"No. I'll say 'I told you so.'"

"I have difficulty seeing you saying something like that," Sirius said.

"Neither can I," Remus agreed. "It's not you."

Sirius turned his head again to see a pretty brown-haired girl walk past him. He kept staring at her until she turned the corner.

"Would you cut that out?" James nagged.

"What?" Sirius asked confused.

"You look like a stupid Neanderthal when you stare at a girl as she walks by. Can't you just look where you're going? You're making all of us sick with your games, Sirius."

"Fine. I will look straight ahead of me for the rest of the break. I promise."

"Thank you," James said, sighing.

"So what should we do the last Friday night of September?" Remus asked, trying to change the subject.

"Whatever," Sirius responded. "I don't really care. Maybe we should go to the village, see what kind of Ministry officials are up for the weekend."

"I think the Minister of Magic himself is going to be in town on that weekend," Peter added.

"Really?" Remus chimed in. "We must check that out."

"What do you think, James," Sirius asked, but James hadn't heard a word that was said.

He was looking directly ahead of him; eyes locked on one position, his mouth open slightly. Sirius, Peter, and Remus all looked simultaneously to the spot James was fixated on.

"Figures," Remus said routinely.

Walking on an intersect path was the most beautiful girl in the entire school. She moved toward them gracefully; her long, dark red hair waving like a dance. She smiled and laughed with her two friends, who were also attractive, but nothing compared to her. She looked in James's direction, so that all four of the Marauders could see her brilliant, bright, green eyes, sparkling amongst the black cloud of Hogwarts cloaks.

Nothing could have distracted James from her face. He had even stopped breathing as he watched her draw nearer to him.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter, as if rehearsed, rolled their eyes at the same exact moment as they watched a truly goofy smile spread all over James's face.

The two friends of Lily stopped talking and nudged her, motioning to her to look at James. She set her emerald eyes on his blue ones and smiled greatly.

James finally took a breath and chanced a smile. "Hello," he said to her as she passed him. The two girls she was walking with giggled, but Lily did not.

"Hello, James," she said smiling more greatly if possible. She passed by him with eloquent grace, like a goddess in the breeze. She never took her eyes off of him as she sailed on through the corridor, nor did he take his eyes off of her. He turned around, walking backwards, and watched her watch him as she went for Gryffindor tower. She laughed and waved to him as she turned the corner.

James sighed and spun around to face the direction he was walking, only...

SMACK!

He hit a large stone statue of a gargoyle which apparently was directly in his path. He saw the mildly concerned faces of Remus and Sirius, then the corner where the wall and ceiling met, then he just saw the ceiling. There was a loud_ thud_ as his back hit the hard castle floor.

Sirius, Remus and Peter stopped dead in their tracks and huddled around James, looking down at him.

"Is he dead?" Peter asked stupidly.

James's eyes were wide open, staring straight up at the stone ceiling, his mouth open. He was breathing but shallowly.

Laughter started to sound through the hall. People were starting to get the word that the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain had collided head on with a statue.

"James," Sirius said, trying to contain the laughter in his voice, "are you all right?"

James sat up very quickly, putting his hand on his forehead. "Fine," he said with effort.

"You know," Sirius said, smiling at him, "you should really pay attention to where you're going. And you make all of us sick with your games, James."

Remus and Peter let out a little chuckle, but James was not so amused.

"Shut up. I think I have a concussion."

"Let me see it," Sirius said, moving James's hand out of the way. "No you're fine. It'll just bruise up a bit. Nothing to worry about; your hair will cover it anyway."

He helped James up then they started to walk to the Great Hall again. The three of them kept smiling, but James ignored them.

"You're going to kill yourself over her, you know that?" Remus said to him.

"I think it's funny," Sirius said. "I mean, you act as though you haven't seen and talked to her everyday for the past six years."

"No I don't," James said, frowning slightly.

"Yes you do. You just ran into a perfectly stationary object because you were drooling all over her. Just face the facts, James: you're obsessed," Sirius told him formally, Remus nodding in agreement.

"I am not obsessed," James said slowly and seriously.

The three of them couldn't contain the laughter inside of them. James rolled his eyes and smirked just a bit.

"Yeah, yeah," James said, "very funny."

When they finally entered the Great Hall, students stood up to point and laugh at James, who nodded and smiled to lessen the greater embarrasment.

"News travels fast at Hogwarts," Remus said, taking his seat across from James and Sirius.

"I don't see what the big deal is," James said. "Don't people bump into things?"

"James," Sirius said smirking, "you bumped into the statue because your eyes were falling out of your head and rolling on the floor."

"Sorry I brought it up," James replied.

"Hey, Potter," said a cocky young third year boy who approached James rather quickly. "Tried walking through walls, too?"

He laughed bravely, as did his young friends. James smiled again.

"Was it you who wanted to play Seeker next year, Jackson? I mean after Penny graduates?" he asked. Jackson stopped smiling.

"Yeah," he said slowly and quietly. 

"And do you know who chooses players?"

"You do," Jackson said.

"That's right," James replied. "I do, because I was elected team captain. I suggest that you try to show a little respect. I like a joke as well as the next guy, but I only really like for my friends to do it, and Jackson, you're not quite there yet. Got me?"

"Yes sir," he said, clearly intimidated. 

"Good. Enjoy your lunch," James turned back to his friends, who were trying to keep the laughter to a minimum.

"You scared the poor kid," Remus said.

"Nah," James said shaking his head. "He's not very good anyway. I would never judge him on his personality, but he's almost blind. He would never find the snitch. No harm done." 

"Who is going to play Seeker, anyway?" Sirius asked.

"Well," James said thoughtfully, "I don't really know. He's been the only one to come up to me and ask about it, but no one else. I would really like to start training whoever it is, though. Get them ready for next year. Have you ever thought of it, Remus?"

"Me? Seeker? No way, too much pressure. You've seen me on a broom. I almost slip off the front. I could never play Seeker."

"Have you asked anyone? Posted anything on the message board?" Sirius asked.

"Nope."

"Not even her?"

"Ha! No, not even her," James told him, with a twinkle in his eye.

"So when are you going to tell her, James?" Remus asked.

"Tell her what?"

"Oh don't pretend you don't know what we're on about," Sirius said. "When are you going to tell Lily that you love her?"

"_What_?" James asked. "You can't just go up to somebody and say that. It's a little sudden."

"It's not like she doesn't know that you fawn over her," Remus said. "The whole school knows you worship the very ground she walks on. It is a tad bit obvious."

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Sirius said, taking a sip from his goblet. "James, you need to say something to her. You are not the only one that likes her, you know. She is rather dishy."

"Dishy?" James asked questionably. "You think she's dishy?" He looked at the three of them with a scowl.

"No!" Sirius said, laughing. "No," he repeated slapping James on the back, who still looked upset. "I personally think she's an ugly hag. You think she's...well...you know."

"She's truly hideous," Remus added.

"Revolting," Peter chimed in.

"Nice save," James replied with a smile.

"All right, but in all seriousness James, you don't have eternity," Sirius said.

"And what do you suggest, King-of-the-long-lasting-and-successful-relationships?" James asked, the right corner of his mouth raised.

"Well there's certainly no need for insults, mate. I think you shouldn't really prepare what to say, 'cause it's you. You always do better under pressure. Just wing it and see what happens."

"Wing it, huh?" James questioned, glancing towards the entrance of the Great Hall.

"Yeah. You could say, and this is just a suggestion, 'Lily, from the moment I saw you I wanted to be the man who serves you and..."

But James wasn't listening this time, either. Not at all. He knew that Sirius was saying words, words addressed to him, but he couldn't really make them out... As a matter of fact, the conversations going on in the Great Hall all seemed to integrate and merge into one drone which became quieter and softer. He knew it was silly, he knew his friends were right, but he couldn't help his reactions to her.

Lily walked in the Hall, looking as radiant as ever. She was accompanied by Liz Banks, a strawberry blonde girl with many freckles, and Jade Yang, a very attractive girl of Asian descent. The three of them were conversing then sat down at the end of the long Gryffindor table. 

James sighed heavily and leaned his chin on his perched arm, watching her in a ceaseless wonder. She was smiling; he _loved_ it when she smiled. She ran her fingers through her thick, dark hair and laughed. _Someone made a joke_, James thought. It didn't take a long while for her to notice that he was staring at her. She glanced at him and blushed slightly, her lips moving instantly for a smile.

He smiled back and sighed again.

"Dear God that's disgusting," Sirius groaned. "What are we going to do with him? He can't even hear us. A bomb could explode in his face and he wouldn't even blink, he is so obsessed."

"It is rather routine. You'd think we would have gotten used to it by now," Remus replied calmly. "I think you should go on with the plan, but don't tell him, he wouldn't approve."

"Remus, you're right. It's about time we took matters into our own hands. We should be able to sit down for lunch and eat without getting sick. It's a common student right! Excellent idea."

"So we're gonna do it?" Peter asked excitedly. 

Sirius nodded at him. "James," he said, but there was no response. "James," he said again, result the same as the first time. "Jimmy boy, pay attention!" Sirius almost yelled, while snapping his fingers in James's face.

"Don't call me Jimmy and don't snap at me. I am not a dog," he answered.

"So sorry," Sirius responded sarcastically, "I must have been confused with all of the drool that's dripping out of your wide open mouth! Are you going to say anything to her? Do you realize what you're putting the rest of us through? You have liked her for six years, since we were sorted. Do you remember what you said to me when you sat down at this very table that night? You looked at her and told me, 'God Sirius, she looks like an angel' and ever since then you two have flirted across classrooms and tables and it's making all of us nauseous!"

"I second that," Remus said.

"Well I'm real sorry. But I can't just walk up to her and say something," James said.

"Why not?" Sirius asked.

"I just can't. I am waiting for the perfect moment."

"Six years is a long time to wait for the perfect moment. I am sorry I have to do this to you, but it's for your own good. I am doing this because you are my best friend and I am friends with Remus and Peter, and they hate this too."

"Sirius, what _are_ you going to do?" James asked.

Sirius picked up his spoon and chimed his glass goblet. "If I could have everyone's attention please," he said standing up. All the Gryffindors looked at him.

James pulled his arm. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked whispered fearfully.

Sirius ignored him and shook him off. "Please if everyone could look up here, I will only do this once." Sirius then did something you might see a coach doing at a Muggle baseball game. He took his right index finger and touched his left shoulder, then he crossed it over his chest, pulled his right ear, coughed, passed his hand through his thick dark hair, grinned, and sat down. "Did you get all of that?" he asked. 

Sixth years lining the table nodded. James looked dumbfounded down to Lily's end of the table and saw that she too had a similar expression on her face. Something was going on and neither of them knew what. Jade, who sat to the right of Lily, nodded to Sirius, got up, and went over to the Hufflepuff table where she whispered something into the ear of Thomas Lynn; who upon hearing the news passed it on to his fellow classmates.

"What is all of this about?" James asked. Nobody said anything. "Peter?" sooner or later Peter would crack with the answer, but to his amazement, he kept his mouth shut. "Sirius, what are you going to do?"

"James, just relax, nothing bad is going to happen...I don't think." He then took a casual drink as if this was completely normal. James looked deeply concerned.  
"You're crazy. I'll find out. I told you, I want to do this on my own, without you. That really bothers you, doesn't it?"

"Oh you're really flattering me." And so was the end to lunch, as the bell rang shortly thereafter. "So, Remus, how about next Friday we see the sites?"

"What do you mean?" he asked in confusion.  
"Expand a bit, go beyond Hogwarts, see Hogsmeade, you know, explore. We have done the mundane forest a thousand times." Sirius said. He, Peter, and Remus picked up their things and began to leave when they noticed that James was still around the table.

"Have you guys seen my wand? I lost my wand. I don't know where it is." James said, searching every pocket he had, which was quite a lot. He got out of his seat and began searching under the table, on the table, and around his fellow Gryffindors.

"Looking for the Gargoyle, Potter?" It was an all too familiar voice; cold, deep, and monotone. One that only Snape could possess. James looked up from his search.

"Looking for the toilet, Snape? It seems you've had an accident. Get a little excited did you?" Snape looked horrified. Sirius got the hint and the right spell. At that moment, he drew out his wand, kept it inside the sleeve of his robe so that Snape could not see it, and whispered, "_Percipitum_" and a wetness appeared on Snape's trousers. 

"Ah that's too bad!" James said with an evil grin. "You'll have to be careful in the future, Severus, you won't always have me around to tell you about your, well, issues." The entire Gryffindor table exploded with laughter. Ravenclaw got the word soon enough and started in. Hufflepuff didn't take a minute too soon to chant in with the insults.

"I'll get you for this, Potter!" said a furious Snape, as he turned an left amidst gales of insults and giggles.

"Sure you will," James mumbled. 

Sirius laughed a little himself then said, "Your wand."

"Where?"

"No, I think I saw it in Sprout's."

"Why didn't you say something before?" James asked.  
"I just remembered. Sorry, what's a guy to do? You'd better hurry or you'll be late for Binns class." With that, Sirius, Remus, and Peter gathered all of their things and headed towards History of Magic, while James ran as fast as he could to Green House five. He was really pretty fast, though he did not look it. He ran down staircases, out of the castle, and across the grounds all in the September heat. _How could he forget his wand_? He never had before. He could distinctly remember putting it in the outside robe pocket before he left. Finally he got to the green house, thrust open the door, and nearly knocking out a small third year.

"Mr. Potter, back so soon?" she asked, trimming a wailing plant.

"Yeah," James said, trying to catch his breath. "I forgot my wand." He went over to his table and sure enough under his chair was his wand. "That's strange" he said to himself. He picked it up, pocketed it, and made his way for the tower door.

"I thought I saw one of your friends take your wand," said the professor. And then it hit him. He did remember his wand. Peter must have taken it out of his pocket and dropped it under his chair. That was the trick. So what was going on in the History of Magic classroom when he was not there?

He ran as fast as he could out of the classroom and as a result almost slipped on some bobotrauter pus that a third year spilled. "Excuse me, coming through, watch it!" He ran up to the castle, through the big doors, down the hall, and just made it through the door to the History of Magic as the bell rang. Binns would be coming through the wall momentarily. He would have to take his seat, only…

Jackie McDermont of Hufflepuff was in his seat, and Sirius, whom he always sat next to, was way up in the front sitting next to Jade. As he kept looking around he noticed everyone was sitting in different seats. Peter and Remus were spread out and it appeared as though all of the seats were taken. Sirius turned to the back of the class and saw James's confused expression. James raised his hands shoulder length and mouthed, "What's going on?" Sirius just shrugged and looked lost himself. Professor Binns made his ghostly entrance and without even peering at the class, began his lecture. "In 1259 the goblins of Prussia…excuse me, Mr. Porter, please sit down."

"It's Potter and my seat is taken." James said pointing to where Jackie was sitting. Binns did not seem to care. 

"Mr. Parker, there is a seat available just there." And he pointed to an empty seat, the only empty seat, in the far back corner of the room. The other person seated there pointed to it. James could not believe it. _It had to take days of planning_, he thought. He gazed to the front of the room as he made his way toward his seat; Sirius gave him the thumbs-up. Other students, both Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, had a "good luck" sort of face for him. James could not help but smile at his friend. He was very lucky to have Sirius; he had the greatest friend in the world. He pulled out his chair, sat down, looked to his left, and smiled at Lily.


	3. A lunar escape

*** The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn't to be sold, reproduced, or taken as true. The main characters and most locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. No copyright infringement is intended.***  


Part Three: A Lunar Escape

"Not all mistakes lead to ruin."  


Friday night, September of 1976. The first full moon of the school year had finally arrived. Plans for the night were still in the works, but it was going to be a fun one. It never occurred to the four of them that they could get caught then expelled. It wasn't that they were stupid, quite the contrary. Sub-consciencelessly they must have thought that they would sail through all of their problems. Sirius and James were very smooth in getting themselves out of deep trouble, something they were in often, so quickly getting out of it got easier each time. No one knew about their secret and no one was going to know. 

Every month, when the full moon rose, the three of them transformed into Anamagi and roamed the school grounds. But that was last year. Tonight they were going to go beyond Hogwarts and expand to the village. They it was a risk to let Lupin get that close to people, but James and Sirius were confidant that with their size, everything would be fine. 

The hardest part of these evenings was getting three guys under one invisibility cloak out of the school without being seen. There were seven tunnels out of Hogwarts, but none of them originated in Gryffindor tower. Sirius was six feet tall and well built; James was slightly taller but without the great stature; Peter was short, squat, and highly uncoordinated; a very bad combination under one magical article of clothing. 

The three of them had been learning to become Anamagi for a long time and finally accomplished it the previous year. They had about nine outings in their fifth year and they hadn't been seen. This year, with their luck, they wouldn't even be missed.

"Ow! Peter, that was my foot, you idiot!"

"Sorry, I can't move with you two so close to me."  
"Shhhhh! Do you two want to wake the entire castle?" James asked.

"Ouch, Peter!"

"Shut-up, Sirius!" It was a miracle that no one heard them "Who has the map?"

"I thought you had it." Sirius said. 

"No, I said, 'Got the map?' and you said you did."

"No you didn't, you said, 'Got the map' like you had the map, so I said 'yes'"

"Oh this is classic. Now what are we going to do?" James asked.

"We know where everything is, what's the big deal?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, but we have no idea where Filch, Mrs. Norris, or Peeves is. They could be right around the corner, or down that hall, and we could be spotted then busted. Do you want to go to prison?" Sirius asked.

"Or maybe they can hear you, Sirius. The point of the cloak is to be invisible. It's pointless if you two are going to narrate our journey to the passage for anyone to hear. Now can it!"

Sirius hesitated, but couldn't help himself. "We're now turning left..."

"SHHHH!" James and Peter told him. 

And so they maintained partial silence to the passage nearest to the tower. When they finally reached the silver armor, the entrance to the passage out of the castle, James drew out his wand, whispered, "Madigrium" and the armor shifted to the right to reveal a tall, narrow entrance. James checked over his left, then his right to make sure there was no one in the corridor watching them.

"Right. Peter you go first." With a quick movement, Peter was out from underneath the cloak and into the passageway. Sirius went next and James followed, closing the passageway behind him.

"All right, the hard part's over. Now, this isn't exactly sound proof in hear, but we don't have to be under the cloak, so Peter won't trip every three steps."

"I don't mean to trip, James. I lack body coordination, you know that."

"I have an idea. Why doesn't Peter transform in the dormitory and one of us takes him out?" Sirius's idea seemed so obvious that they all felt stupid for not thinking about it before. For the moment they stared at each other.

"We can talk about this later, let's just go. Remus is waiting." And they continued on through the low, narrow, and winding passageway. When they reached the passage's end, Peter transformed and made his way out to look to make sure that the coast was clear.

"So what do you think?" Sirius asked James while Peter was out.

"About what?"

"This, about this? Do you think we'll get away with it?"

"What are you talking about? We always get away with it. Why are you worrying; it's not like you and it doesn't suit you either." James replied.

"I don't know. I have a really bad feeling about it tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when we were eight and we went over to Benjamin Farrel's house?" Sirius asked James.

"How could I forget?" He asked in an ominous tone.

"Yeah, I had this feeling right before that. You almost caught fire, James."

"Yeah, the key word is 'almost.' Nothing happened, we got away, barely, but we got away. Nothing bad is going to happen tonight. It's all in your head." But he watched Sirius for a while. He seemed a bit uneasy, which James admitted to himself was strange. "Look, if you don't go, I don't go." 

Sirius glanced at James, contemplating his decision. He rarely felt like this. Usually he was very confident about doing anything, but something funny was lurking around in his stomach.

"The coast is clear. Ready?" Peter said upon his return. "What's wrong?" he asked. The two of them remained silent for a while, then Sirius spoke: "Nothing. Let's go."

Sirius, Peter, and James wished one thing: that they could see themselves transform. It must have been awesome to watch; going from human to beast in a second. But they couldn't transform in the castle. Sure, they all told each other that they were not afraid, but secretly each of them feared that McGonagall or Dumbledore would come upon them and witness the incriminating action.

At the full moon they ceased to be Sirius, James, and Peter, but became Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail: the Marauders of Hogwarts. They couldn't talk, so they used various signals; head nods, stomping, and other savage forms of communication.

"Okay Peter, you first." Peter closed his eyes and instantly a silver wave seemed to pass over his head and traveled down to his feet. He became a small, brown, yet pudgy rat. He looked up at the two of them and squeaked. 

"Sirius, you go next. I have to put the cloak in the Willow. Cover me and make sure Moony can't get to me."

"Always." Sirius winked and, like Peter, a silver wave passed over him. He became a massive black dog with tall pointed ears, a handsome head, and honey brown eyes. Even in Anamagi form, he still appeared as Sirius.

"All right, lets go." James put on the cloak and followed the two out of the castle wall. Moonlight made them visible should a curious third year peak out his head while fetching a glass of water. It was therefore crucial for the three to make it to the Willow as fast as possible. "Pick up the pace a bit," James urged Sirius. Padfoot began a rhythmic Loup and James scooped up Wormtail, who was already showing signs of fatigue. "You really need to think about a diet, Peter. This isn't healthy." 

When the Willow was before them, James released Wormtail so he could push the knot on the tree to temporarily halt the dangerous and possibly lethal branches from lashing them. Then James and Padfoot jogged to entrance of the Willow and scanned the area. Moony couldn't hurt animals, only humans; they had to be sure he wasn't in the small hollow of the tree when James entered.

James removed the invisibility cloak and rest it on a wood lump. Then he moved toward the entrance of the Willow, where there was plenty of head room, and snapped his fingers. A visible silver wave passed over his entire body. In a few seconds, James Potter was replaced by a tall, young, muscular, buck with tall prongs atop a noble head. Prongs was the most impressive of them all. Stags usually notoriously large, but James made some magical adjustments to serve him better and in this case, bigger.

Being careful not to plant his antlers in the ceiling of the tree, Prongs peered down at Padfoot with his enormous shiny eyes signaling for him to inform Moony of their readiness.

Padfoot scratched the large stone which hid the entrance to the passageway. Moments later Moony, the werewolf, emerged. They were ready.

Prongs, closely followed by Moony and Padfoot. Wormtail was squeaking around them frantically. Though words were not issuing from his mouth, his complaints were clearly registered. Ignoring Wormtail, they made their way towards the Forbidden forest, making it more difficult for them to be spotted.

They remain in the forest and keep to the outer perimeter toward Hogsmeade in order remain hidden. Usually they would scour the school and add it to the map. It took two years to gather all of the information for the map. They were pretty sure that they had recorded every detail of the school. It took many journeys around the castle and covert operations inside at late hours of the night before becoming Anamagi. 

Quite often an important magical figure would stay in Hogsmeade, on business or pleasure, and would ordinarily carry interesting information with him. If that was the case, Wormtail was the one who spy. He would enter the building where the official would stay and listen for a while. Padfoot would often wander the streets as a friendly stray and do the same; listen, watch, and report back to Prongs who kept a lookout for anything strange while monitoring Moony.

Tonight they had it under good authority that the Minister of Magic himself was going to be having some drinks in the Hog's Head this evening, supposedly on business in the area. It was a great opportunity to learn some new gossip that the Minister would accidentally spill to a pretty girl; The Minister was a widower. 

When the four of them reached the rise on the edge of the forest, Prongs nodded his head to Padfoot and Wormtail to begin the mission. Padfoot walked slowly so Wormtail could walk underneath him; giving him protection from hungry owls. As the two neared the Pub the heard muffled voices and laughter. Wormtail scurried through the hole he had made near the door and entered the warm pub. He began scanning the many faces for a salt and peppered gray-haired man in his early fifties, probably sitting at the bar. Wormtail couldn't see anything from the ground, so he had to move up the display case behind the bar. He looked around the room once more, then not spotting the Minister, he went to the wall, crawled inside, and climbed up the interior.   
"Minister, what will you have?" asked the bar tender. Ah, the Minister had just arrived. Wormtail peeked through the hole in the wall and saw the him sitting at the bar.

"I think I'll have the usual, Ryan." Then he drew a small book from his pocket and began to read. Wormtail tried to see the cover of the book, but he had rat vision.

"Here you are Minister. A scotch on the rocks."

"Thank you." He let out a sigh, took a sip of his drink, then continued reading his small black book. And right on cue, his favorite waitress, Tabitha, came to say hello. He smiled as she came nearer. She asked him about the usual; how's the Ministry, the children, etc. The boring gibber jabber went on for several minutes.

"What are you reading, sir"

"Just scheduling, my dear." Nothing interesting. He whirled around and headed for the hole, back down the interior of the wall, across the floor, and almost reached the exterior wall when he heard, "You-know-who is gathering more support as each day goes on, Tabitha. It's a scary place out there. Watch yourself." Wormtail stopped dead in his tracks, turned around, and headed behind the bar so that he could better hear the Minister.

"The Bones'. He killed the Bones'." He put down his glass and there was brief silence between the two of them, then-- 

"You mean Dustin and--"

"No, their parents." There was a reservation in his voice, like he didn't want to say anymore. "They were a very prominent family; very powerful wizards. They have been some of the most powerful in the history of Magic."

"Why? Why did he kill them?" Tabitha asked.

"We don't know. They were killed in their home. Some very old and valuable possessions were stolen. Dustin has no idea what they were, only that they were heavily guarded and protected. We know that a book was stolen, but we have no idea of what the content was." He took another sip. "I really should go. I have a busy day tomorrow, I need my rest. Good-bye my dear." Wormtail heard the scraping of the stool, and the footsteps falling on the floor.

"Good-bye Minister. I hope everything goes well." Then Tabitha resumed serving her customers. It sounded like Hagrid was in the pub. He was singing jovially in the back of the room with other drunken guests.

Excited, Wormtail turned and ran towards the hole. He had great information to pass on to his three friends. Something very valuable had been stolen: a book. But why would You-know-who want a book? Once outside he started searching for Padfoot.

But Padfoot was slightly distracted at the moment. There were approximately five boisterous girls around him; pretty girls, in their early twenties, no doubt having a fun night out. And he happened to find them and was enjoying their presence.

"He's so cute!" they chorused. He wagged his tail and was really friendly with them. He was beginning to attract a crowd, probably because he started to do tricks for the girls. Wormtail had no trouble spotting him, but he would not be welcomed. He made his way toward the hill. 

Once there he found Prongs shaking his head at the sight of Padfoot. Wormtail squeaked to let him know he was back from the mission. Prongs faced him and nodded. Then walked to him, when he did something very strange. He stopped suddenly; even though it's hard to determine facial expressions when in animal form, he could see that Prongs was panicked. He jerked his head around and ran in circles as if searching for something. Then Wormtail realized it too: Moony was missing. Wormtail ran up onto a rock to get a better view: Padfoot was still entertaining the young girls-- a couple was holding hands as the were entering the Three Broomsticks-- Hagrid was taking the back door out of the Hogshead pub -- Moony was just a few feet from him. Wormtail squeaked loudly to get Prongs's attention. He ran over to see. Moony was crouched low ready to jump out at Hagrid.

With a magnificent spurt of speed, Prongs galloped down the hill, Wormtail scampering behind him.

"Oh, hum diddy dum said he, hmmmm…" Hagrid sang loudly as he walked towards the forest. Moony had him in his sight, shiny drool dripping from his jaws. He jumped out twenty feet from Hagrid and stayed low.

"So I ask'd the man, and 'e said…Oh dear," Hagrid muttered when he spotted Moony. Even though he was drunk, he could recognize the fact that a werewolf was twenty feet from him, ready to attack. As always when risked traveling through the forest at night, Hagrid brought his crossbow. Slowly, he removed it from his back jacket pocket. With his hands still behind, he loaded a silver tipped arrow. At the same time he slowly backed away. He didn't want to kill him, but if he came toward the village…

Prongs sprint down the hill, watching Hagrid load the crossbow behind his back. If only he could run faster! Wormtail broke off and scuttled toward the gaggle of girls surrounding Padfoot. They screamed as he entered the circle then they scattered. Padfoot turned to him, then ran as though he knew what was happening.

"There's a nice ware'welf, I'm not gunna hert yeh." Then Moony took to running. Hagrid whipped out his crossbow and aimed it directly at him. Hagrid was hoping to scare him off, but he didn't appear to go for it. He would have to shoot. Scarier still, it sounded as though something was coming from the right; more wolves, maybe. He had to shoot it, he was getting too close.

"Sorry," Hagrid said sadly as he pulled the trigger, just as Prongs came charging at Moony, head bowed as if to strike him. Moony saw him at the last moment and ran the other direction to get out of his way. But Hagird's arrow did not change course with its intended target.

The arrow struck hard and fast in Prongs's left shoulder. The pain was excruciating. Still under the influence of momentum and unable to maintain balance, he crashed nose first onto the loose ground, slid ten feet before coming to a stop. Moony couldn't move out of shock. Padfoot came around the pub's corner and ran to Prongs. He's breathing was labored, his eyes were beginning to sag, and the shiny blood poured from the wound. Padfoot turned to Hagrid who began approaching them. He couldn't come near them, Padfoot had to stop him.

Ignoring Moony, Padfoot began viciously barking at Hagrid who backed away and remained silent. Moony started after Hagrid again, but this time Padfoot was There to stop him. Moony seemed to understand. He turned to Prongs, still lying on the ground, the pool of blood made the loose dirt mud. The three walked over to him and stared into his big eyes, which he was fighting to stay open. But he had to get up. Padfoot began barking. 

But Prongs remained stationary, laboring under the pain.

Hagrid still stood there, alone, watching, and crying. "I didn' mean tu hert 'em" he sobbed into his coat.

Prongs tried to move his right foot in front of him so he could try standing, but that required using his left to balance it. Padfoot moved to the front of Prongs and whined. 

Then very slowly he moved his hind legs underneath him enabling him to raise his back. Then he put the weight on his right front. Padfoot saw what he was trying to do, but he couldn't help. He was forced to watch. 

Once his feet were underneath him, Prongs raised himself, shut his eyes, and stood, putting his weight on his right.

Hagrid was still sobbing uncontrollably. 

It hurt Prongs to stand more than it did to lie down even though he was not standing on his left leg. The arrow still plunged deep into his shoulder, blood dripping down his long leg. Padfoot and Moony began walking towards Hogwarts; they looked back at Prongs who remained stock still. Padfoot barked at him. Prongs took a step forward and stumbled. This was going to be a tormenting experience.

He limped all the way back to Hogwarts and fell twice. The three could easily see the pain in Prong's eyes. Padfoot signaled to Wormtail to push the knot on the Willow. Once the branches stopped flailing, Moony ran into the tree and down the passageway. The others followed him. Padfoot closed the passage. He transformed immediately and Wormtail followed.

"It's safe now, James. Just try and concentrate." Sirius said with a note of fear in his voice. 

It was a bit delayed, but James transformed before collapsing into Peter's open arms.

"He shot me. I can't believe he shot me." His voice was higher than usual and tears were rolling down his dirty face from the pain. His left hand was blood stained and getting swollen. Peter and Sirius moved him to the inside of the tree and placed him carefully against the wall. James leaned his head back and closed his eyes; his right hand clutching his left forearm. 

"James, I am so sorry. This is all my fault," Sirius said horrified. 

"It's not your fault," James replied silently. "It's not your fault," he repeated softly, effort.

"I shouldn't have left you with Peter," Sirius with a trembling voice. "You need to see Madam Pomfrey, James."

"No, I can't. She'll ask what happened."

"That's really bad, you could lose your arm. You have to see her. Don't be stubborn!" Sirius said in a raised voice.

"Do you know what will happen to us, Sirius? We'll be expelled, sent to prison maybe. No, I can't see her. You have to help me." He started to shiver because the pain was so afflicting. He felt as though he could pass out at any moment. He didn't dare look down at it, for he feared it would sicken him.

"What are we going to do?" Peter asked with a shocked expression

"One of you has to pull the arrow out," James said. No one said anything for a moment. James looked at their faces. If he didn't feel as though dying would be better, their expressions would have caused laughter. Sirius shook his head. The sight of blood always made him nauseous. "Fine. Peter, you have to pull it out." James's jaw was beginning to quaver, his teeth began to chatter. Peter bent down next to him and placed his hand on the arrow. "Okay, just pull hard and fast," James said weakly, shutting his eyes tightly.

"Hard and fast," Peter repeated, "hard and fast." Tears were starting to form in his eyes as well. He kept hold of the arrow but did not pull. "I can't, James. I just can't. I'm sorry." He got up and stepped backwards.

"Look, I know you don't want to do it, but I can't very well walk around with an arrow sticking out of my arm. Someone pull it out." But they just stood there looking down at him. They didn't dare move.

"Fine, I'll do it myself!" and then he looked down to his left shoulder. It must have been deep down because he couldn't even see the coating of the arrow itself, only the rod. He touched his black cloak and could feel the wetness the blood made. He was glad he couldn't see the blood in the darkness. But it was too dark. "Peter, I need light."

Peter took his wand out of his pocket, "Lumos," he said and a bright light filled the small hollow of the tree.

"Right. Now I just have to pull." He looked at them and tried to smile, but decided that would require too much energy. Sirius looked terrible, Peter afraid, and he could only imagine how he looked. What Snape would give to see this, he thought. James took his right hand, placed it on the arrow, and tightened his grip. "On three," he said to himself, "One…two…" He closed his eyes and groaned, "I can't do it, I just can't. Please, one of you be brave, please, just pull. I won't hate you for it, I promise. Don't make me pull it out myself." His vision was starting to blur and he felt himself growing cold even though he was sweating.

"I'll do it. It was my fault. I just don't want to hurt you." Sirius bent down on his knees and placed his hands on the arrow. "God, this is really going to be painful, James. I am so sorry."

"It can't be worse than it going in, can it?" He gave Sirius a week grin. Sirius just stared back at him, then gave Peter a horrified expression.

"On three, James." But Sirius knew that when you expected something, you tense up for it in preparation. That would only cause the muscles to tighten and cause him more pain. "Ready. One…two" and he pulled hard an fast just as James requested. Sirius heard a ripping sound and hoped it was James's robes, but he didn't think so.

James let out a giant yell of pain. Sirius feared someone would hear him. Peter acted quickly and placed his hands over James's mouth trying to muffle the sound. Arrow still in his hand, Sirius went over to him, bent down and tried to talk to him.

"The worst is over. Calm down," he tried to sound soothing, but apparently James was not in the mood. He fought to free his head from Peter's tight grip. His face was red, tears were falling from his eyes.

"The worst is over! Why don't you try having that yanked from you. What happened to three?" he asked angrily.

Minutes passed before anyone spoke. James started to lose color from his face and his eyes began to droop; his breathing became less labored.

James was relaxing. He was still breathing heavily as laid his head back against the wall and closed his bloodshot eyes. Peter took his arms away from him and sat down beside him.

"We have to see it now," Sirius said with resignation. "You know we have to assess the damage, see how bad it is." James raised his head and looked at Sirius. "We have to."

James nodded.

Sirius dropped the arrow and leaned his hand against the tree wall above James's head. He looked down at the black cloak, which was clearly soaking with blood. Sirius slumped down onto the cold floor and contemplated his next step.

"So how do we get this off?" he asked pointing to the cloak sleeve.

"Just tear it. There's no point in trying to salvage it," he looked at Sirius and tried to grin slightly. He knew that the sight of blood was too much for him. "If you're going to be sick, just look the other way, all right?" 

"Absolutely," he said with a smile. Then, very carefully, he placed his hands on the material of the cloak sleeve and tore along the seams, from the bottom, up to the shoulder. Then he was forced to look away.

"Damn, that can't be good," James said as he viewed his white, button up shirt sleeve now a deep crimson. Peter shook his head, Sirius still faced the other way, but wasn't vomiting... at least not yet. 

"Now you have to tear the shirt, Sirius. C'mon, you can do this. I know you can," he tried to sound calm and collected, but he didn't want to see what was under his shirt anymore than Sirius did.

Sirius faced James again. Sirius's cheeks had a greenish hue and perspiration was emerging on his forehead. He nodded and inched forward so he could commence with the ripping. He placed his fingers on the bottom of the sleeve, which felt clammy, warm, and wet. He pulled the sleeve apart, ripping it all the way to the top. As he got closer, he shut his eyes.

"We're in trouble," Peter stated as he looked upon the exposed wound. James looked at it too. It was really bad, worse than he imagined. There was a hole surrounded by torn muscle, soaked in ever dripping warm blood. His whole arm was beginning to swell. None of them were experienced in any kind of medical care, Muggle or magical, but they knew that something had to be done.

Sirius chose not to see it. "Describe it to me, please," he requested. "I can't face it."

"Well, it's not that bad," James lied. "The arrow left a hole, kind of like a very large slit in the muscle. Pulling it out no doubt caused more damage. And it's still bleeding pretty bad. I'm going to need to cover it with bandages or something, 'til it heals."

"How do we get those?" Peter asked.

Sirius turned around and looked at it. He covered his mouth with his hand and his eyes widened considerably. Then he quickly looked at Peter.

"We have to steal some from the Hospital Wing," he told Peter. "Transform back into a rat. I'll take you to the infirmary so you can crawl under the door. Then search to make sure no one is awake and let me in. We'll take everything we'll need." Then he stood up and wiped the blood that was on his fingers onto the walls. "We'll need the cloak."

"Take it," James said, "just hurry."

Sirius and Wormtail ran back into the castle, up stairs, through halls, and down corridors without looking for a single ghost or a certain cat. Once they reached the Hospital Wing, Sirius placed Wormtail on the ground before the crack at the bottom of the door.

"First check to make sure no one is walking about or awake," he whispered. Wormtail slipped through the crevice and scurried alongside the wall. It was very quite. There was a fifth year asleep in one of the beds, but the others were empty. Wormtail ran to Madam Pomfrey's living quarters, squeezed under the door, and found her fast asleep. With that, he slipped back out, ran to the entrance door, transformed back into Peter, and opened the door to find Sirius biting his nails.

He took three steps inside, looked around, and proceeded to the medical cabinet. He set out to open it, but it creaked. Sirius took out his wand and preformed the silencing charm, then opened the cabinet.

In it was everything they needed: gauzes, cotton, bandages, tape, swabs, and disinfectants. Peter and Sirius stuffed there pockets with some of everything, closed the door, and wiped the cabinet free of their finger prints. Then they tiptoed out of the room. Peter transformed, Sirius covered himself in the cloak, and stuck Wormtail in his pocket. He checked his left side then his right to be sure that no one was there, and ran to the Whomping Willow.

Once back inside, they found James leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. He had his cloak covering the wound to try to stop the bleeding. He did not open his eyes when Peter and Sirius entered.

"James, we've got everything," Sirius said as he went to his side, placing all of the stolen medical supplies carefully in an organized fashion. Peter did the same. James pulled his head up and looked down at it all.

"Now you have put it on," he said to them weakly. He was starting to tire and he knew he had lost a lot of blood. "Just do what you think is best, and then we'll go up to the dormitories and call it a night."

"I still say you need to see-- " Sirius started, but James knew what he was going to say and interrupted him.

"I told you before, we cannot risk it. We shouldn't even be out roaming around. And you know Hagrid's going to tell Dumbledore that he shot me. Dumbledore's not stupid. He'll piece it together. And wonderful wizarding family or not, the least that would happen to us would be expulsion. We would have to live as Muggles. Think about our families, Sirius. They would be disgraced." He continued to stare into his eyes; he would not change his mind. The nurse would never know. "We promised that no one would know about us, remember Sirius? No one." He looked down at the huge supply of bandages. "So, lets get started."

* * * * *

James and Sirius were among the top minds in the school. They excelled in academics, magic, and Quidditch, but they knew nothing of dressing a wound. They did the very best that they could; a pitiful amateur's job. Peter and Sirius placed a gauze directly over the gash and wrapped bandages around it, securing it with plenty of tape. Then they put together a sling so James wouldn't have to hold it up himself. All in all, it was a pretty bad job, but it was the best they could come by.

Once again, Peter transformed and was placed in the pocket of Sirius's cloak. Sirius covered he and James under the invisibility cloak, took all the extra supplies, and made their way to the castle. James kept stumbling so Sirius nearly carried him up to the dormitories. Luckily the Fat Lady wasn't visiting another portrait. They gave her the password and entered the empty Common Room. Peter was let out of Sirius's pocket and he helped Sirius with James up to their dorm. Naturally everyone was asleep as it was two in the morning. They placed James carefully in his bed, made sure he was going to be okay, laid him on his right side, and closed the curtains around his bed.

Sirius found himself worrying as he stared at his ceiling. He could hear Peter snoring, but James was not making a sound. What would happen if anyone found out? They never accounted for something like this to happen. How could he have been so shallow? Why wasn't he there with James, helping him? It was all his fault, he knew it was. If only he had been there. He finally nodded off into a deep sleep thinking about what had happened and playing it over and over again in his mind.

James, on the other had, was wide awake. No matter what position he got into he could not get comfortable or ignore the soreness in his arm. He lay there for an hour, moving on his back and his side, but nothing mad him asleep. So he sat up. He put on his glasses and looked at the clock; it was three a.m. Then he looked down at his arm. To his shock the bandages were red; the blood was soaking through. He got up and went to his trunk. Silently, he opened it and removed the Marauder's Map and another black cloak. He closed the trunk slowly, as not to wake everyone, and placed the map on top. He picked up his wand and tapped the map. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," he whispered. Instantly, ink spread across the map like a spiders web and formed connecting lines that made a map of the school. James leaned forward to examine it more closely. All the teachers were in their beds, Peeves was bouncing around the dungeon, Filch was also in the dungeon, no doubt yelling at Peeves, and his cat was pacing the Charms corridor. 

He needed to go somewhere that was completely private, where no one would go to no matter what. And then it hit him: Myrtle's bathroom. No one ever went there. Lily once told him that Myrtle wailed like a baby when anyone would enter, so it wasn't worth it to use that bathroom. It was the perfect location and even better; the path there was clear.

"Mischief managed," he whispered as he tapped the map again. The map vanished. He replaced it in his trunk and took out his father's invisibility cloak. He put it on, went over to his bed, reached underneath it, and took all of the stolen medical supplies which Sirius hid in a bag. James only took some; just the stuff that would fit in his pockets. Then he tiptoed out of the dormitory, down the stairs, and out of the common room to make his way for Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

He had no problems getting there. Like the map had shown, no one was patrolling this area. He pushed the bathroom door open and walked inside.

His skin erupted with goose pimples when he entered. Total and complete silence echoed from the moonlit bathed walls and floor. He shut the door and walked to the far side of the bathroom behind the sinks in the middle of the room. Here there was enough light to see, but he couldn't be seen if anyone were to come in through the door. He took off the cloak, placed it on the floor, then he emptied his pockets. Maybe now that he was a bit calmer he could dress it better than Peter and Sirius. He leaned against the wall and then slid down to the cold floor. He took off his black cloak and placed it next to him while moving the supplies closer. He did not make much noise, but apparently enough for Myrtle to hear.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a snotty tone. "You're not a girl."

"Thanks for noticing," James replied. He removed the sling and started to unwrap the bandages; they were soaking with blood. He let them hang from his arm then he took his wand and whispered, "Accio, towels" and paper towels rushed over to him. He caught them, placed them on the floor, finished removing the bandages, and laid them on the paper towels.

"Oooohh, that looks bad!" Myrtle said with a nasty smile on her face. She moved closer to him to get a better look. "What happened to you?" James couldn't figure it out. Wasn't she supposed to be in her toilet crying? Why was she here asking questions?

"Nothing really," he told her.

"You can share my toilet if you die," she said excitedly.

"Thanks, but I don't think I'm-- " but he never finished his sentence. He heard a noise that made his heart race. Someone opened the door. Someone was in the bathroom. He stopped talking and held his breath hoping they would leave. He crossed his fingers and closed his eyes praying that they would go. Myrtle left James and went to go see who was in the bathroom.

"What do you want?" Myrtle asked in her usual, irritated way.

"Is he in here?" James knew that voice anywhere and would love to hear it anytime but now. She didn't wait for Myrtle to answer. Instead she came around the sinks and looked straight at him. Her eyes grew ten times and her mouth fell open, which she covered with her hand. She hurried over to him and kneeled down in front of him, still staring at the horrendous site.

"What happened?" she asked, worry falling from her lips.

Lily had amazing magical capabilities which were far beyond anyone he knew. As he looked at her he hoped that she couldn't read minds.

"Lily, why are you here?" This is bad. He always had a problem lying to her. He always wanted to tell her everything, but he couldn't tell her what really happened. He racked his brain for plausible stories, but none of them could result in this. Maybe if he just asked her questions she would forget about it. "How did you know I was here?" Something he was wondering.

"I don't know, I just woke up and knew I had to come down here. James, what happened to you?" she sounded concerned. James tried to hide his flattery.

"I--" what, think, say something. Anything, he had to tell her something. But nothing intelligent came to mind. He looked back at her; she was still beautiful in her pajamas. Her long red hair shone in the white moonlight and her eyes glowed. He wanted to tell her the truth. But he knew her well; she would certainly not approve. She never broke any rules so she would never approve of his roaming around at night as an illegal Animagus. He couldn't lie to her though, she would know.

"I can't tell you," he said honestly.

"Why not?" she asked in earnest.

"I just can't. I promised I wouldn't. Please understand." He gazed into her bright green eyes and smiled at her. She stared back at him with a frustrated look.

"Promised who? Sirius?" 

"Yes. But he didn't do this, neither did Remus or Peter. Okay? I want to tell you, but I can't." She seemed to understand. She sighed and looked at him with some disappointment, but she didn't ask again.

"This is really bad, you know that?" She looked at the bandages on the floor. "You can't just cover a cut that deep. You need to have it looked at."

"No. Madam Pomfrey will do what you did."

"What?"

"Ask questions. It will heal on its own."

"You need stitches to seal it back up, otherwise it might take months to heal properly, and in that time it could get a bacterial infection and you could lose your arm."

"So what do you suggest?" Clearly she knew more about this than Peter or Sirius did.

"I'll need to clean it and then sew it back up and maybe-"

"What!?" This was going to far. He wasn't going to have a needle go through his skin. He was planning on fixing it himself, he didn't want someone else touching him. He started to inch away from her against the wall. "No way. I don't want you to touch me…now" he said panicking.

"Stop acting like a baby," she replied sternly. "I am trying to help you." And she started after him.

James kept shaking his head and moving along the wall. Lily kept telling him to stop. Finally James stood up very quickly only to realize that he knocked his head hard on the windowsill.

"Damn," he whispered, as he placed his right hand on his throbbing head and slid back down on the floor. "You're going to kill me. You know that?" he continued rubbing the top of his head as he watched her lean down and pick up his wand. She went over to get a paper towel, came back and waved the wand over it while mumbling some words. Instantly the towel transformed into a cold ice pack which she placed on his head.

"Now just relax," she commanded him. Then she took his hand and placed it on top of his head to hold the pack in place.

"Why is everyone so concerned about my relaxation?" he asked sarcastically. She didn't respond. She began rummaging through the various supplies and waving his wand here and there. She transfigured useless things into a bowl, a sponge, and for some reason she transfigured a cotton ball into shiny string; it almost looked liquid. She seemed to have an idea of what she was doing.

"What are you going to do?" he asked her.

"First I have to clean and flush out the wound, then-"

"Wait a minute..." He knew from experience that it would always cause him pain whenever his mother would put the tiniest amount of soap on a small cut. She had always told him that he had a low pain tolerance, and he knew he did, but one does not admit that to the girl one loves. "I don't want to sound rude, but how do you know what to do?"

"My father is a doctor." 

"But he's not here. Does it carry on in the genome or something?"  
"No," she sounded like she was getting a little irritated, "but he always talked about his patients and what he did with them. I listen to my parents when they tell me something. Anyway, I know the Muggle ways seem, well, barbaric to you, but they do work. I know a spell that might help if you'll just trust me and let me help you." She said all of this while looking into his eyes, anticipating that he would have a cute remark to fight her with. But he didn't say anything; she was trying to help him. The situation could be worse; actually as he was thinking about it, there was a very positive way to view this. The girl of his dreams was inches away from him, and she was going to fix him up so that he wasn't wishing he was dead.

"I need to clean this, as I was saying before, otherwise it could get infected. Then I need to stitch it up. No," she saw the panic on his face, "I am not going to use a needle. I read in a book that I can guide this string," she pointed to the once cotton ball, now clear string, "in and out to sew it up with a wand. If done to perfection, which I won't be able to do because I have never done this before, it should close seamlessly. We'll just have to see how it turns out."

"Sounds…good," he told her, "I'm sorry that I was short with you, I get a bit-"

"Cranky?," she asked with a smile. She got up and took her bowl to the sink and filled it with water.

"Yeah, sorry." He smiled back at her. She came over to him, put the sponge into the bowl, and placed a little soap on it.

"This is warm water. I admit that it will probably sting, but it will feel a lot better when everything is finished, I promise."

"I trust you," he said and she placed it on the wound. It did sting, a lot. He was trying very hard not to wince; he didn't want to seem like a pansy around her. As she was cleaning it, she began to talk.

"So, you won't tell me what happened?" She smiled guiltily and looked up at him.

James shook his head.

"How is it that no matter what you do, you manage to find trouble?"

"What do you mean?" he asked skeptically. 

"I remember a time at the end our second year, you and Sirius locked some Slytherins inside the train compartment with dung bombs and you wouldn't let them out."

James beamed. "Yeah, those were the times," he said. "Just so you know, I don't actually go looking for trouble. I just like to have some fun."

She finished cleaning and put the red sponge back into the bowl. Then she picked up a towel and dried it thoroughly. She grabbed the string and his wand and started to place it on the now clean cut.

"That fun is going to get you expelled one day." She put one end of the string on the top edge of the open wound and laid the rest to the side. She started moving the wand in a zigzag pattern above it and magically the string inserted itself in and out of the edges of the wound. James only felt pressure, not pain.

"They're not going to expel me," he said with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?"

"My father is an Auror, a good one. He's put Mansonia, and Kazink in Azkaban. They're not going to expel me."

"Your dad caught them?"

"Yep," he said proudly.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"You never asked." She gave him a funny look, then returned her attention back to the mending.

"There. Finished." It did look a lot better. I was still quite sore, but nothing like it was ten minutes ago. "It isn't perfect, there is still a small line to show that it was there. When done correctly it would show no signs of an injury."

"It looks great. It feels better, too," and that it did. "Your father would be proud."

She smiled at him. "Now, the material of the string will dissolve magically when it has completely healed, that way we won't have to remove it. I will still have to put a wrap around it to stop the blood from getting every where, but it really shouldn't bleed very much anymore." She picked up some bandages and wrapped them securely around his arm, not to tight and not loose, just perfect. As she was doing so, she leaned closer to him.

"How's the head?"

"Well, I hit the windowsill fairly hard." He took off the ice pack and put it on the floor. 

"I know what to do," she said with a grin. "My mother did it to us when we bumped our heads." She got real close to him and looked straight into his eyes.

"What?" he asked somewhat nervously

"This," she put her hands through his hair on both sides of his head, closed her eyes, and gently kissed him on the forehead.

His heart beat rapidly. He didn't know what to do about it, he just knew he liked it and didn't want to say anything that would mess up the entire situation.

She leaned back and looked at him. "Better?" she whispered.

"Yes," he weakly whispered back. To his disappointment she got up and started to pick up the mess. She put the spare materials in a pile, then placed them in his cloak pocket. She transfigured all of her medical equipment into small cotton balls and threw them away.

"You're not going to leave now, are you?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound anxious or desperate.

"Not if you don't want me to," she replied kindly.

"I do." He shook his head and squinted. "I mean I don't."

"All right, but it's very late. We really shouldn't be in here, you know? It's against the rules to be out at night." She walked toward him and sat down in front of him, leaning her back against his chest.

Now his heart felt like it might just explode out of his chest and soar across the room. He couldn't believe how lucky he got. Sirius would be dying if he could see this. But what to do now? He really wanted to put his arms around her, that's what he wanted to do. 'Course the actual action was slightly more difficult. He slowly moved his right arm from his side and fixed it around her waist, but she took his hand and held it in her's face up. That was odd, why did she do that?

She moved her head back so that it was touching his, and looked down at his palm.

"You have a short life line," she said lightly.

"What?"

"You heard me," she said with a light laugh. "You have a short life line."

"What are you saying, I'm going to croak right here and now?" She looked up at him and smiled, then turned and continued to stare at his hand.

"No, I'm just saying. I actually don't think that your life line has anything to do with how long your going to live. I don't believe in that nonsense."

He moved his hand and held hers and turned it face up.

"Your's is just as long as mine," he said truthfully.

"Which means it's longer," she replied knowledgeably.

"What? How did you come up with that?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Your hand is bigger than mine."

"So?"

"So, if your line is the same size as mine, and my hand is smaller, then that means that according to the laws of proportion, my line is longer."

James couldn't help but laugh a little. "You're crazy," he said quietly and kissed her head. "It seems that you'll only live a little longer. Sirius has a really long line, despite Trelawny predicting his death every day."

"I've never asked you before, but how long have you known him?" 

"I don't have a memory without him. He has been my best friend since before I can remember. We lived on the same street, our mothers are friends, and we seemed to have the same interests. At least that's what they say. What kind of interests do toddlers have?" It was true, he didn't have a single memory without Sirius being in it. Christmas's, birthdays, average days, nothing without him.

"I don't remember ever seeing one of you alone. I was shocked to find you here by yourself," she said. "You're lucky that you have such a good friend, not many people have someone that close to them."

"I know. I love him like a brother." She smiled up at him as he said this.

"I wish, that I had somebody I could tell everything to. Someone that understood me, could read my expressions and give me advice when I needed it."

"I thought you had a sister."

"I do," she said with almost and unsure tone in her voice. She took his hand back and placed it around her waist. "She's four years older than me. I'm afraid she doesn't like me very much."

"Lily, everyone likes you. She must love you, she's your sister."

Lily's face went momentarily red after his comment, but he didn't notice in the dark.

"She hates me. Always has, always will. It will never change."

"How do you know that she hates you?"

"Let me see if I can quote her on that. 'You're such a freak. If I never see or hear from you again, my dreams would come true. I don't want you to play any role in my life.' She has never liked me, never," she said sadly.

"Why not?" he asked.

"She's just a cold heartless..." She cut herself off, turned to see his face, and shrugged instead.

"Sorry," he said quietly. "She doesn't sound very nice." 

"Oh she's not," she said. "You're very right about that." 

"You don't need her," he said. "You're fine standing alone without a sister. You're strong, and kind," looking away from her and to the floor. He was hoping flattery would earn him some brownie points. "I mean even that sorry, good-for-nothing, grease ball, Snape, is decent around you. And he's a prat to everyone living."

She laughed at his description of Snape and turned to look at him. This time he slowly moved his left arm carefully, because it was still sore, around her waist. She didn't seem to mind.

"Why do you hate him so much, anyway?" she asked curiously.

"Well, in our second year, Sirius, Remus, and I were just walking down the corridor minding our own business," he said with half a smile, "when around the corner we found Snape and Douglas picking on Peter. Now mind you, Peter was pretty short and squirrelly and couldn't really defend himself, while Snape was just the opposite. We never really liked Snape in the first place, but that put the icing on the cake. So we went to Peter's aid, insulted Snape's mother, and got Peter out of a jam. Snape's been just the same ever since."

"I had no idea he did that, he was always somewhat decent to me."

"Well, everyone's nice to you, aren't they?" he said truthfully.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked defensively, and turned around with challenge on her face.

"Because in all the years I've known you, you've never said a foul word of anyone. You're amazing Lily. If there was a day that I felt horrible for one reason or another, just having you walk into the room made everything fine again. There's an aura about you that's like a very mysterious and mystical magic that no one has discovered, or could possibly explain." He looked into her eyes endlessly and she stared back with a deep longing. He had been waiting to say that for a very long time, and now he finally had.

"You're so beautiful. You're the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and I-"

"Shut up," she whispered.

"What?" and then it happened, slowly but surely. She took her left hand and put it around his face and leaned in closer to him, and he did the same. It was a very soft and gentle kiss at first. Both their eyes were closed and they lost all sense around them. Then they fell into it. Everything else began to haze, the only thing they felt was each other. Magic surrounded them from all directions. Nothing could disturb or distract them. Certainly not Moaning Myrtle who was crying loudly in her stall, not the howling of werewolves outside, nor the opening of the bathroom door which allowed the entrance of Filch's cat.

She sauntered into the room and stared at the two of them kissing. She let out a loud "Meow," when Lily pulled away from James and fathomed the cat.

"We have problems," he said in an all-to-calm way.

"We need to go," Lily said in a panic.

"Can't, it's too late." He reached over and grabbed his invisibility cloak and began to unfold it.

"What is that?" she asked with a pointed finger.

"Shhh, just come in closer to me. Move your legs in tight so I can cover us completely." When she complied, he threw the cloak over the two of them, just as Filch entered.

"What is it, my sweet?" he asked in his creepy, drawling voice. He walked in with a lantern held above his head and a bag of cleaning solutions and potions, which he set on the floor. It was inches from Lily's feet. 

Lily's heart was beating rapidly and her breathing was loud and shallow. James quietly took his hand from around her waist and covered her mouth.

Filch was now scanning the bathroom. He checked every stall and looked in every corner.

"What are you doing in here?" Myrtle asked rudely.

"Looking for students out of bed," he replied sinisterly.

"There's no one in here but me. No one ever comes in here to see me. I am always alone!" and she began wailing very loudly. Filch rolled his eyes and started for the door.

"C'mon my sweet. There's no one in here," he said as started for the exit, his cat in tow. With lantern in hand, he pushed the door, let the cat out first, then followed her out.

James waited a while 'til he was sure that they were far from hearing range. Then he removed the cloak and lay it on the floor.

"I never knew you had an invisibility cloak," she said with a pleasant smile.

"Family heirloom. We should go."

Lily got up first then gave James a help up. He picked his supplies and cloak and put them inside his black one. 

"That was close," he said.

"Yes it was," she said as she leaned forward and kissed him. She put her arms around his shoulders and looked up into his blue eyes with a broad smile. He put his arms around her waist and smiled back.

Neither one of them could ever remember being so happy. James had wished for this moment for so long. And like before, they were lost in the emotions of each other, not hearing or seeing anything around them.

The bathroom door opened again. They broke away to see Filch standing before them. He had forgotten his bag of cleaning potions.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?"  
  
******

"Never have I been more disappointed in two Gryffindor students as I am at this very instant." Filch, being the most wonderful caretaker in existence, woke McGonagall to inform her that two of her students were caught kissing in the girls bathroom at 3 o'clock in the morning. She was furious. James and Lily found themselves standing before her in her office, which conveniently enough was in her classroom. Her desk, which she was standing behind, was located on a raised platform. James and Lily were down at the bottom, as if being condemned for a capital offence.

"You both know the rules of this school. Students are not allowed to be out of their dormitories at night. And kissing in the girls bathroom! I am ashamed. You cannot behave in such a barbaric manner just because you are the Quidditch captain," she said sternly as she looked at James, "or house prefect," she said as she glared at Lily. "Rules are rules and you broke them deliberately." For a brief moment she simply stared at the two of them. James was trying to look as though he felt guilty, but inside himself little voices were shouting for joy, and orchestras were playing triumphant music inside his mind. He kissed the woman he loved, nothing could bring him down.

Lily, on the other hand, had never in her life been in trouble; she was not taking it easily. Her head was hanging low and she was fighting a tear which was bursting to drip down her beautiful face. James saw her in the corner of his eye and wanted more than anything to hold and comfort her, but couldn't. McGonagall wasn't finished.

"Miss Evans, I am very disappointed in you. You are one of the best students in this school. You have never disobeyed anyone or crossed a line. You are a role model to all students below you. People look to you for advice and an example of how to be great students at Hogwarts." She looked at Lily hardheartedly, who looked as though she could burst into tears at any moment.

"And you, Mr. Potter, in all my years of teaching I have never encountered a student who gets in more trouble. Do the rules not apply to you? Frankly I am surprised that Mr. Black is not involved in this. People in this school look up to you as well, Potter. You are very bright, I don't know why you can't learn common sense and stay out of trouble." He had heard this speech dozens of times and really didn't need to hear it again. He kept thinking of how he could have lived in that moment with Lily forever, not caring about anything else but her.

"You will both receive detentions for you're actions. And since you are so fond of the bathroom, I suggest you clean them, all of them, tomorrow evening."

He was expecting this, but it could have been worse. In his third year, he and Sirius had snuck into the Slytherin dormitories by following a student in while wearing the cloak, and placed bombs inside the toilets. When as Slytherin would flush, it would back fire instead. The plan was ingenious and hilarious, but unfortunately they had been charged with the crime. Someone snitched on them, they never found out who, but they were forced to clean the bathroom without magic. It was the worst detention ever. This was easy by comparison.

"In addition, 20 points will be taken from Gryffindor," she continued.

"What! That's an outrage! We weren't hurting anyone. No one was in danger!" he almost yelled.

"20 points each." James dropped his mouth. He looked over at Lily who was in total shock. She had always gained points, never lost them.

"Professor, that's not fair. There is no reason to take 40 points away. Kissing is not a crime!"

"Congratulations, Mr. Potter, you have just lost another ten points," she said nonchalantly. "And while we're on the subject, what were you doing in a girls bathroom, hmmm? Or was that just a rendezvous point?" He kept silent. He was certainly not going to tell her the truth. He knew McGonagall was secretly pleased about them finally getting together, she was just not going to let down her disciplinary facade for anyone.

"I don't know what your problem is with authority, Potter, but you need to work on your smart mouth," she said in a cool tone and continued to stare down at him with her eyes above her spectacles. 

"I'm sorry, Professor," James said. She just turned around to get her robe, and then James mouthed at her back, "No I'm not!" just before she faced them again. He caught Lily grin in the corner of his eye.

"Since you two cannot behave like sixth years, I will escort you to Gryffindor tower."

Walking behind her back to the tower, Lily was bold enough to break the silence with a question: "Will you be writing to our parents, Professor?"

"Absolutely, Miss Evans." Lily put both of her hands over her eyes. She was dreading that the most. Her perfect record, smashed.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.

"Nevermore," McGonagall answered. She signaled for Lily and James to enter, then she followed them in. "Up to your dormitories," she commanded them as she pointed to the stairs. 

They both made their way silently up the stairs, aware that McGonagall was watching them. When they reached the entrance to the sixth year dormitories, they looked at each other, opened their separate doors, and went in. After closing the door softly behind him, James waited with bated breath and listened closely to hear the portrait door close. It took a while, though. McGonagall was probably waiting for the two of them to run out of each door and fall into each other's arms. But to her disappointment they didn't, so she left. As soon as the portrait closed, James opened the door to find that Lily had done the same. He went up to her, put her hands in his, pulled her to him and kissed her.

"Goodnight, Lily," he said, "Thanks for making this night the greatest night of my life."

"You're very welcome," she said. And taking her hands out of his, and placing them on his face, she kissed him once more before saying goodnight. Then she turned, opened the door, went inside and watched him as she closed it slowly.

James let out a huge sigh, smiled a great smile to himself, turned to his door, opened it, and went inside. When he left it he was a miserable, single man. Now he was the happiest man on earth with greatest girl in the world.

Everyone was asleep. He was thinking about waking Sirius to tell him the news, but thought it could wait 'til morning. All he wanted to do was dream of her. He went over to his four-poster, removed the stolen medical supplies and his invisibility cloak and put them in his trunk. Then, after taking off his round glasses, he crashed into bed, turned on his stomach, and smiling into his pillow, fell into a deep sleep.


	4. Sirius's Charm

*** The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn't to be sold, reproduced or taken as true. The main characters and most locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. No copyright infringement is intended. Please read and review. **Please note that this story, except chapters 32-34 were written prior to the release of _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix._ All facts released in OoTP have not been incorporated into this story.*****  


Sirius's Charm

"The quality of a man can be measured by the friends in his company."

Sirius awoke Saturday morning to a horrible nightmare: The Minister of Magic found out that Hagrid had not shot a buck, but James Potter and all four of them were sentenced to twenty years in Azkaban for the use of illegal and underage wizardry. Luckily it was only a nightmare. He turned over on his side to look at his watch on his bedside post; it was 7:13 in the morning. He could hear his roommates talking and getting out of bed, and some of them were already leaving the dorms. Rubbing his eyes, Sirius sat up in bed and yawned. Then he got up, dressed in a classy black button down shirt and nice slacks, and headed for the bathroom to look in the mirror at his handsome face.

After combing his hair and brushing his teeth, he went over to James's bed to make sure he was okay. He pushed aside the scarlet curtains and found James sound asleep. He must be having a nice dream, Sirius thought, for a goofy smile was spread across his face. He closed the curtains with a great relief passing over his body.

Peter was not in the dormitory. He must be downstairs or already at breakfast, he thought. So, still a little tired, Sirius moseyed on down to the common room, his feet hitting heavily on the stairs as he descended. Once he got to the bottom he decided that a glass of water would be good; he was very thirsty.

But something was going on in the room. Clicks of people were gathered in tight groups, talking excitedly. No one even noticed that Sirius had entered the room. Usually he had a large gathering welcoming him. And another thing, where were all of the girls? There wasn't a single one in the room. He shook his head then went passed a babbling group over to the water pitcher. He could still hear parts of what they were saying as he was pouring his water into his glass.

"Is what happened to James Potter true then?" he heard someone say.

Sirius dropped his water glass, and it shattered on the floor. He could hear his heart beating loudly and quickly in his eardrums like cannons in the middle of a war. Sweat spread across his face, his throat tightened, and a very cold chill went up his spine; they all knew. All four of them were going to go to Azkaban for the better part of their lives, and it was all of his fault. He tried to think very quickly of what to say and do, but nothing came to him. How do you explain it?

While he was thinking of how to rationalize this to the judge on the day of his sentencing, Dominic Fleming stopped talking with his friends because Sirius had shattered his glass.

"Sirius! My God, is it true what happened to James?" he asked with deep interest. All of Dominic's friends had stopped talking to hear what he had to say, as a matter of fact, the entire common room stopped talking to hear what he had to say. 

Think quickly; come up with anything. But nothing could make it sound better, so he went with the usual; if you don't know the answer, ask your own question.

"What? I have no idea what you are talking about." He was shocked at his lack of self composure. He was falling apart. They could probably all see through him. He couldn't save James, and now he couldn't even save himself.

"We thought for sure you would know if the rumor was true. You're like his brother or something."

"What's the rumor, Dominic?" He had to hear it, to confirm the nightmare.

"Well, we don't know if it's true, but the story has been pretty consistent. Apparently McGonnagal caught James and Lily making out in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom late last night. The entire school is talking about it."

Sirius dropped his jaw down to his feet. There was no way that this could possibly be true. James was having trouble standing straight, much less kissing the girl of his dreams. But if the entire school was discussing it? No, James would have woken him last night to tell him; they told each other everything.

"I don't know," he said slowly. "I just don't know."

"What, he didn't tell you?" Sean Bell asked from the far corner of the room.

"No!" Sirius yelled back. But wait, why were all of the girls gone? "Hey, where are all of the girls?"

"We think they're all talking to Lily about it," Dominic responded.

Well Sirius was not going to wait for James to rise at his leisure. He turned away from all of them, sprinted up the stairs, busted down the dormitory door, threw the curtains back of James's bed, and started yelling.

"James! James! Hey wake up!" He started shaking him, but James was sound asleep. "James, wake up man!" This time he picked him up and started shaking his shoulders about, but his head just drooped onto his chest. Then Sirius started slapping his face, which was having some success but not much. "James, get up already! I have to talk to you." By this time about twenty guys had filed into the dorm to hear what James had to say, but he was still drowsy. Sirius put his hands on James's head and tried to force him to open his eyes. Then he started to slap him again. "Get up, wake up! James. Come on already!"

He responded in a lethargic groan and tried to open his eyes. Then Sirius took some water out of a glass by the window and started splashing it on his face. He was starting to come around, but it looked as though it would take him a couple of hours.

"James, can you hear me? How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked with three fingers shoved in his face. He turned his eyes on Sirius's hand and squinted.

"How am I supposed to know? I need my glasses to see," he said groggily. Peter, who was now in the dorm, pushed his way through the crowd, picked up his glasses, and put them upside down on James's face. James corrected them immediately. He stared at all of them dumbfounded . "What's going on?"

"James, there is a rumor going around the school. It's pretty extreme; the entire school is talking about it at this very moment. We need you to confirm. Do you understand me?" he asked clearly.

"Yes. Now what is it?"

"Well, rumor has it that Professor McGonnagal walked into you and Lily making out in Myrtle's bathroom early this morning. Now, is that true?" he asked slowly.

Everyone leaned in closer to hear his answer. James just looked up at all of them for a while with a pensive face.

"Hmm. Well, everyone is wrong," he said nodding his head. "They're all wrong."

Sirius's heart fell. All the guys looked disappointed at James. He was their hero. For a while it was like he had rescued the princess from the fire breathing dragon.

"What do you mean it's not true? All the students- everyone is saying that you kissed her," Sirius said sadly.

"I'm sorry to disappoint all of you, but the facts are wrong." This was fun stringing them along like this. "People should really stop gossiping about things they can't get straight." He yawned as if this meant nothing to him and watched all of them go from excited to frustrated.

"The truth is," he just couldn't keep it going, he had achieved a major feat, "McGonnagal didn't see anything. Filch was the one who caught us." And then he smiled.

Sirius cheered, screamed, and hugged him; perhaps a little too hard for James's liking. Then the twenty other guys in the room followed suit and began dog piling on James who was yelling for them to relax and get off of him, but they were shouting so loud that no one could hear him.

Across the hall in the girls' dormitory things were just a little bit different. Gryffindor girls from years three to seven were all crowded into the sixth year dormitory. They were not yelling nor screaming. They certainly were not congratulating themselves for their masculinity; instead they were all dreamily talking to Lily about last night. Some of the girls were crying; others were listening to her story in hopes that they too could find love.

"He's just so kind and gentle," Lily said to her large audience. "I really love him."

At this all of them cooed and "Ahh" and then began giggling. Many of them wanted to hear the entire story all over again; many of them just sat and giggled amongst themselves.

* * * * *

Back across the hall, they had finally let James breathe for a short while, but they were still yelling very loudly, hitting him on the back and shoulders; he tried not to wince. The guys were not very interested in how or why it happened, just that it finally happened. Christian Gleason, a seventh year, asked how they kissed and how long. Richard Newton, a fourth year, asked James for advice about the girl he liked. But mostly they all congratulated him on his long awaited and deserving victory, which he appreciated. 

Slowly they started to leave, probably wanting to let the rest of the school know that it was true; they had spoken to the real source. After about twenty minutes only Peter and Sirius remained in the dorm with him, wanting to know everything that had happened. With a dreamy expression, James told them everything he could remember. But he didn't tell them the details of the conversation, only that he learned more about her in that one night than in the last six years.

Back in the girls' dorms, they were also starting to head down to breakfast, but only after discussing the color of the bridesmaids' dresses (which Lily had decided to be baby blue) and the location of their honeymoon (which was down to either Paris or Rome). After about twenty minutes only Liz and Jade remained to hear the story again, which Lily was only too happy to tell.

After James had told them the tale, Peter smiled and congratulated him again then headed down to breakfast. But Sirius stayed. He knew James had more to say.

"What did it feel like?" Sirius asked breathlessly.

James looked at him for a while, elation passing over him. "It was like I had been lost for years traveling far and wide searching for some mystical and magical place of being. And when I kissed her, it was as if that man had finally found that place and called it home. 

Gosh, Sirius, it just felt so right, so perfect! I wanted to live in that moment forever. She is so amazing, so breathtaking. I feel as though someone like me is not deserving of a girl like her, but now I have her. I would give anything to her, everything if I could." He looked at Sirius who gave a weak but genuine smile. "I love her. I want to spend everyday with her, for the rest of my life." He looked down at the floor and just laughed a hearty and happy laugh.

"You need to get dressed, go into the bathroom, and brush your teeth, because your breath is terrible. Then go and see her; she's probably waiting for you, her prince." James smiled at him, nodded, got up, and left for the bathroom.

Sirius just sat on the edge of the bed staring at the wall, with mixed emotions. He was happy that James had finally achieved true happiness with a girl he had loved for so long. But he also felt jealous of him. He had many girlfriends, many admirers, but nothing had been real. He had never felt like James described. And as he was describing it to him, he couldn't help but feel empty inside. He kept asking himself if he would ever be as happy as James would be. If he would ever find the right girl like James had found Lily.

"Ready to go down?" James asked as he came back into the room. He was wearing a button down blue shirt, which made his eyes stand out, and khaki pants. Sirius looked up and smiled weakly again. Then he got up, and trying to forget about how he felt, focused on his friend.

"I am really happy for you, James. I'm glad that you got a backbone and acted like a real man!" They both laughed at this. Sirius put his arm around his shoulders like a brother would do and they left the dorm. Jade was standing in front of the girls' dorm door, apparently waiting for James to come out. She immediately smiled and ran towards him, throwing her arms around him.

"I'm just so happy that you found each other at last!" she said, then she let go of him. "Lily wants me to tell you she will be down in the great hall in a few minutes. She's still getting ready."

"But I want to wait for her," he said.

"No, she wants you to go down to breakfast and wait for her there. I have my orders," she said with a grin.

"Alright, we're on our way down," and he and Sirius went down the stairs and out of the common room.

A really funny thing happened when they entered the Great Hall. Almost the entire tables of Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor stood up and began cheering and clapping for James. Only a few guys at the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables looked upset, everyone else yelled their congratulations and well wishes to James. Sirius found this very amusing and decided to play along. He took James's right arm and lifted it high in the air, like an Olympian. The crowd loved it. James smiled broadly and thanked people as he went to his own table. Students of all years shook his hand before he sat down.

"Well, that news traveled fast. How did everyone find out?" James asked Sirius.

"Well, I personally heard it from Bertha Jorkins," replied a curly haired second year girl. "And she heard it from Alice, in Hufflepuff, who heard it from the Fat Friar, who heard it from Nearly Headless Nick, who actually talked to Moaning Myrtle." She said all of this very fast.

"Thanks for the run down," Sirius said with a nod.

"No problem whatsoever."

"So," Sirius said to James, "you're saying goodbye to the single life, huh?"

"I guess I am. I like it better this way. I don't feel like I'm giving anything up though. Remember, I never had a million girls like you," he said with a smirk. Sirius looked back at him guiltily.

Just then another round of applause burst forth from the great hall as Lily entered. She looked a little shocked by the student body's reaction, but pleased nevertheless. She blushed, smiled, then started scanning the Gryffindor table no doubt for James.

He stood up and started walking towards her. She saw him and beamed a brilliant, beautiful smile at him and took his hands.

"Kiss her, James!" the guys yelled from Ravenclaw, then Gryffindor started demanding it. It was quite embarrassing, but Lily turned to face him, still smiling, and said to him, "I think you'd better kiss me, don't you?"

He put his arms around her and kissed her long and good with students cheering as though the Dark Lord had been conquered. When they pulled away from each other, James saw that Dumbledore was even clapping. McGonnagal was fighting a smile, but it eventually came through. Hagrid was cheering loudly with redness around his eyes; it looked as though he had spent the night in tears. But Hagrid was the one who had done it. James smiled at him and winked.

He took her hand and led her down to the far end of the table where no one was sitting. They sat down, not facing the table, but each other, and began talking about anything.

From where Sirius sat, only Lily could be seen, and she looked happier than ever. He couldn't see James's face; his back was facing him. But he could imagine that he was smiling as well; this is what he has wanted more than anything for years.

Peter came and sat down across from Sirius. First he looked at him then down at James and Lily.

"They look very happy, don't they Sirius?" Peter asked.

"Yes they do," he answered. "Yes they do," he said again. He kept watching them for a while, not knowing what they were saying.

"So how are you really handling this?" Peter asked almost sympathetically. Sirius was confused at his question.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on. Don't you feel a little threatened by her?"

"What? Peter what are you talking about?" But he knew. He just started thinking about it.

"I'm talking about James. Now that she's in the picture, you're a little worried that you will eventually loose him, right?" he asked with a grin.

"That's crazy. We've been best friends our entire life, that will never change. We tell each other everything." But he was getting a bit worried, though he dared not show it.

"So what if he starts to tell her everything? What if she eventually takes your place? Oh sure, you'll still be friends, but he will march to her drum. He probably won't go out on full moons or wander around the school preying on Slytherins with you anymore. Nope, he'll want to spend every minute with her, now that she is finally there with him."

"No, Peter, you're wrong," he said sternly. "You're wrong." But then he looked down at the end of the table at James. If he were to get up and leave at this very moment, not only would James not notice, but he would not care. What if Peter was right? What if she did take him away? He liked Remus and Peter a lot but not like James. They were a pair; everyone said they were like brothers, always the double act. He looked over again, and saw that James was brushing Lily's hair out of her face, and then he kissed her on the cheek.

Over at the Slytherin table, Severus Snape was also watching James kiss Lily, only his reaction was not of losing a friend but of total anger, disgust, and loss.

"What does she see in him?" he asked angrily as the glass in his hand shattered.

"Severus, that is the second glass you have broken this morning. Just stop looking at them. There's nothing you can do about it now," said Douglas, Snape's best friend. But he kept watching. She was smiling and laughing. She's so beautiful, he thought, so kind and caring, and Potter had her. Of all the people in Hogwarts, she had to fancy him, his archenemy. It wouldn't be nearly as bad if Sirius Black even was seeing her. Then he would still have a chance.

"Severus," Douglas said again, "I told you that staring at her is not going to- "

"Shut-up you idiot!" he said back to him. Over on his right Patrick Smeltzer, a seventh year who Snape thought didn't belong in Slytherin, started to laugh.

"Give it up, Snape. You haven't got a chance. It's not like it's only going one way. Everyone knows that she fancies him as much as he fancies her."

"If I want your opinion I will ask for it, Smeltzer," Snape said repugnantly.

"Fine. But I will tell you what she sees in him. He is the most well-liked and popular guy in the entire school, despite the fact that everyone in Slytherin hates his guts. He is a prefect in Gryffindor and the Quidditch team captain. Ever since he has been on the team, Gryffindor has won the Quidditch cup," he told an increasingly irritated Snape."You're not even good at Quidditch, are you Severus?"

Snape glared at him for a while then looked back at her.

"You're not even good enough to wipe the mud of her shoes. She's gorgeous, incredibly talented, school prefect, and way beyond your reach." Then he got up, slapped Snape on the back, and left.

"Bloody bastard," Snape said lividly. He kept looking at her from afar. At the moment she was locking lips with Potter. He had to look away.

"He's right you know," Douglas said. "You're none of those things. She belongs to him now," Douglas said solemnly.

"Do you think I might still have a chance with her?" he asked forlornly.

Douglas looked over at her and saw that James had made her laugh, then she kissed him again.

"As much of a chance as you had before," he said realistically. 

Snape looked at him with an evil grin passing on his face. He had an idea, something that would require help and a lot of rule breaking.

"Severus, what are you thinking?" Douglas asked cruelly.

"I have an idea, but I'm going to need your help." He leaned over and whispered into his ear just as the mail arrived.

The entire hall filled with owls of different breeds and various colors, swooping down and delivering packages to their owners. Two school owls came in with official looking letters and dropped them down on Lily and James.

"Oh no. These are the detention forms aren't they?" she asked with a horrified expression.

"Yep, I'm afraid so," he said casually. They both opened the letters and read silently. Lily was horrified. It was a reality now. But still, she couldn't help but feel as though the whole thing was worth it. She was in love, madly in love, and that didn't happen to everyone.

"Damn!" James said as he casually threw his letter on the table.

"What's the matter?" she asked surprised.

"Last night McGonnagal forgot to say that we were not allowed to use magic. I was kind of hoping that she would forget it when she wrote up the detentions, but apparently she didn't."

"Did you finish reading the letter?"

"Not really, why what else does it say?"

"The bathrooms are going to be inspected after we finish them."

"Oh that's just great," James said sarcastically.

"And there's more. I'm to clean the girls', and you will clean the boys'; we can't do it together like we thought we would."

"Just because I would rather hear it from you than a piece of paper, who is going to inspect?"

"I think I got a little lucky. McGonnagal is inspecting mine, maybe she's doing yours too. You need to check it."

James pick up his letter and read it all to the end. Then he put his hand on his forehead and exasperated. 

"What is it?"

"Filch. I'll be cleaning all night long, he hates me." He looked at her and smiled again. It didn't matter how long he cleaned the toilets, he had Lily now, it was all worth it.

"Well, there goes my chance at being head girl next year," she said as she tossed the letter on the table.

"Don't be ridiculous. You're a shoe in. It's one detention, and you weren't even out of the school. You'll still have it, I promise you."

"Do you control the teachers or something?"

"No, there's just no one else that would be better at it than you," he said. "I was the one who blew it. They will never make me head boy."

"That's because you got a detention on your second day of school in your first year, James." She grinned at him, and put her hand to his face. "McGonagall's right, you do find a lot of trouble." And, you guessed it, she kissed him.

* * * * *

The whole day was completely blissful for the two. No one in Gryffindor seemed to mind that fifty points were lost over their romantic moment; everyone was just glad that they were together. It was clear to all of them that James and Lily were destined for each other. All anyone had to do was just look at the two of them, and they would know that they fit; it was right.

Peter and Sirius spent all day wandering around the school, completely bored. Sirius couldn't help but wonder if Peter was right. What if James did tell her everything? What if he was just placed on a shelf, only taken down when he needed to talk about Lily? But no, it was their first day together, things would calm down. Right?

The two decided that they would work on their chess skills, or lack thereof, now that they had some spare time. They would not transform and roam the school with Moony because they had to have James with them, and he was injured and cleaning toilets. They were both terrible at chess. Peter was the worst of the two, so he lost many times. After losing for the fourth time in a row, he went to bed. It was only nine; most of the Gryffindors were still awake, and Sirius didn't want to go to bed early. He went upstairs into the dorm, opened his trunk, and pulled out some homework. He couldn't remember a time in his life when he did his homework on a Saturday night. He and James would always do something, but never homework. So he made up his mind that he would wait for James to come back and talk about what happened.

It wasn't 'til 11 o'clock that the portrait door opened; it wasn't James, though; it was Lily. She looked both tired and relieved that she had finally finished. She made her way for the couch in front of the fireplace and fell into it.

He closed his books and went and sat next to her. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Hi, Sirius," she said lazily.

"Hello, Lily. Finished early did you?"

"Well, I guess. McGonagall inspected all of them and let me go. We weren't allowed to use our wands. She actually took them from us," she said.

"Yes, she does that with detentions. Is she inspecting James, as well?"

"No, unfortunately. Filch is," she said.

"Ewww. He'll be there all night," he said with a little chuckle. He looked at her for a while. He knew why James loved her. Even after cleaning bathrooms she still glowed with beauty and kindness.

"There are some things I need to tell you," he said hesitantly, "about James."

"What kind of things?" she asked curiously.

"Just some things I think you need to know about him."

"I'm listening," she said, sitting up and giving him her full attention. 

"First, James is very competitive. My mother said that she would give a cookie to the one of us that could tie our shoes first, when we were four. So, naturally, we worked very hard at it. But I gave up about five minutes later and went and played with my toy broomstick. I asked him if he wanted to play, but he said no and kept on trying to tie his shoes. It took him two hours straight, 'til he ultimately got it right. And then he got his cookie. My mother was very impressed," he said.

"Two hours? No four year old does anything that long," she said amazed.

"Oh, there's more. He is also really stubborn, likes to think he's right all of the time. Once we were playing a game of Quidditch and- "

"Sorry to interrupt, but how old were you?"

"Nine. Well, we were playing Quidditch and he said he scored a goal, but our parents all agreed that I fairly blocked it. Yet he insisted that he made a fair score. He still argues about it to this day," he said chuckling. Lily laughed too.

"And he doesn't like to be helped. There were times when I would know the answer to something, and I would try to tell him, but he would plug his ears and do it himself."

"Now that I knew," she said cheerfully.

"If he doesn't want to take the help, which he won't, just pretend that you don't know it either and work together to find the answer, then gradually lead him to it.

"Oh, and always call him James. He hates any other variation. No Jim, Jimmy, Jimmy boy, Jay, Jay Jay, nothing, always James."

Lily looked at Sirius for a while; she had listened to every word that he said. She knew about him, what he was up to. She put her hand on his head and said, "Don't worry Sirius. I know how close you two are. I'm not going to interfere. I won't take him from you."

"I wasn't worried about that," he insisted.

"Whatever you say, Sirius. You will never lose him, I promise," she said kindly.

Sirius was relieved inside. He would never let anyone know that he secretly was afraid, but you couldn't help trusting Lily.

"You know, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I want you to know. On the first day of Hogwarts, after we had been sorted, he looked at you and said to me, 'Sirius, she looks like an angel' and ever since then he has been completely enamored with you."

Lily looked at him with a twinkle in her eye, blushed, and smiled.

"I think he joined the Quidditch team to impress you."

"But he was only twelve!" she said shocked.

"Do you think that matters? He denies it, but after his very fist game that he played, when he scored all of those points and everyone was cheering for him and congratulating him, he pushed them all away and came to me and asked, 'Did she see me, Sirius? Did Lily see me score?'"

Lily looked at Sirius starry-eyed and happy. She loved James, but she had no idea that he cared so much for her.

"You got a really good guy, Lily, a really good guy. Treat him well. He loves you. I have never seen him as happy as he is with you, just talking to you. You are very lucky to have him," he finished and grinned at her.

"I know," she said weakly, a tear of happiness forming in her emerald eye.

Just then James came bursting into the room.

"I hate Filch! He made me clean the Slytherin bathroom three times before he let me go, the ugly git!" he walked into the room, and stood in front of the two of them. "What are you guys up to?" he asked curiously.

"I'm stealing your girlfriend," Sirius said.

James just laughed, "Alright, at least it's you, man." Then he bent down and kissed Lily on the lips. She smiled at him and gazed into his eyes.

"No, really, what were you doing?" he asked again before he kissed her cheek.

"Talking about you," she answered.

"Really? What did you say about me, Sirius?" Lily moved closer to Sirius so that James could sit next to her. He put his arm around her shoulder, and she laid her head on his.

"Nothing but good things, my friend. Nothing but good things," he said nodding his head.

"You're a liar. I can see right through you. I've known you too long," James said. And the three of them laughed through the night.

* * * * *

By Monday morning Remus had overcome his monthly illness and was back at Hogwarts. He arrived just in time for breakfast in the Great Hall with his friends.

"It's always so good to be back," he said to Sirius and Peter.

"I really missed you, Remus," Sirius said sincerely.

"That's nice. I missed you too, Sirius. And this place, you never know how nice it is until you're gone for a short while," he said. "So," he continued in a more serious manner, "how did everything work out? Is James okay? I was afraid to come back sooner, to tell you the truth."

"Oh, he's just fine," Peter answered with a grin.

Remus looked at the two of them puzzled. Sirius looked at Peter, chuckled, and rolled his eyes.

"What happened after I went through the passage?" he asked with great curiosity. Sirius and Peter filled him in as best they could. When they got to the part about Sirius yanking the arrow out, Remus flinched a little. They left out the part about James going to Myrtles' bathroom.

"It's all my fault," Remus said.

"No, it's my fault," replied Sirius, "you can't really be accountable for your actions, but I can. Don't worry about it. Everything worked out for the best."

"So, what happened while I was gone?"

Peter and Sirius just looked at each other and laughed. He was so out of the loop it wasn't even funny, or maybe it was. Remus just continued to watch the two of them and waited until they could speak. He was wondering where James was but that was answered shortly. He walked into the Great Hall smiling at his classmates jovially while talking to the girl who was holding his hand, Lily Evans.

Remus blinked and looked again, then looked back at Sirius. "How...when did this happen?" he asked excitedly.

"While you were gone," Peter answered. "Actually it happened almost right after Hagrid shot him. He went into the girls' bathroom, Myrtle's, and Lily met him there. And one thing led to another. The entire school was talking about it all weekend. And the two of them have not left each other's side ever since."

"That's not fair. That's not fair; why does everything happen while I'm gone?"

"The story of your life," Sirius said. Just then James and Lily came up to the table. James turned to see that Remus had returned.

"Well, back again I see? How are you feeling?" he asked as if nothing strange was happening. Lily looked at Remus and gave a friendly smile.

"Fine, and I see that I'm way out of the news reel. Congratulations to the both of you."

"Thanks," she said. She looked at James, who looked back at her, and the two of them moved along down towards the end of the table to be by themselves. Sirius watched to two of them go and sit down at the end of the table as they had for the last two days.

"So, Sirius, how are you handling this?" Remus asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, now that he is spending all of his time with her, how are you handling this?"

"Why is everyone so concerned with how I am handling this? I'm fine. She's not going to take him away from me; he is still my best friend; he always will be," he said defensively. "Leave me alone."

"It finally happened. You know, secretly I thought that it never would. I never thought he would have the courage to tell her he loves her."

"He hasn't," Peter said.

"No, but it's only a matter of time," Sirius added. "You know how sick they made us just by looking over across the table?"

"Yeah," Remus answered.

"It's ten times worse now," Sirius said.

"A hundred times worse," Peter added.

"What do they do now?"

"Well, you know what I'm like when I date girls," he said, Remus nodded, "Well, it's like that but more of it. More kissing, and talking, and he makes her laugh a lot, just really disgusting stuff."

"I see," Remus nodded.

"Hopefully he will settle down a bit once Quidditch season starts. I only hope he can take his mind off of her while he's captain. Otherwise Slytherin is going to kill us."


	5. Gryffindor vs Slytherin

***The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. Events in this story are not to be taken as true to the events leading up to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Characters and Locations belong to J.K. Rowling; no copyright infringement is intended. This story isn't to be duplicated or sold.***

Players of Quidditch!  
  


Gryffindor Team: Captain, James Potter Slytherin: Cap. Andrew Clintick

Keeper: Casey Riley, 2nd year Keeper: Dustin Shaw, 4th 

Seeker: Penny Thompson, 7th year Seeker: Jake Ballard, 5th 

Chasers: James Potter, 6th year Chasers: Cody Baines, 6th 

Brian Johnson, 4th Viktor Vancas, 3rd 

Chris Mueller, 5th Robert Castle, 3rd 

Beaters: Sirius Black, 6th Beaters: David Greene, 5th 

Sam Moore, 3rd Andrew Clintick, 7th 

Part Five:Gryffindor vs. Slytherin

"Teamwork, always teamwork."

October came with a gentle and cool breeze; a reminder that the warm summer days were ending and the cold winter ones were just around the corner. With the changing month came Quidditch practice. Thankfully no one had to be replaced. Everyone was still at school and had great skills. Casey Riley played the keeper. She was very good; she caught nine out of ten attempts at scoring. Penny Thompson, a seventh year and very small, played seeker. She was awesome, very maneuverable, and always caught the snitch. Bryan Johnson, Chris Mueller, and James Potter were the Chasers who could work like a dream with the Quaffle. Sam Moore and Sirius Black were the Gryffindor beaters; they were unbeatable.

Together these seven players, under the talented leadership of James Potter were five time winners of the Quidditch cup. Of course James had only been captain for the last year, but on the team since his second. The coming match with Slytherin was indeed going to be a challenge. Sure, they were the best team at Hogwarts, but Slytherin was skilled enough. They had a new captain this year, 7th year Andrew Clintick, he played beater. He was very tall an burly, the usual build for a beater, and extremely ugly, which Sirius and James noticed was a common occurrence among Slytherins. But nevertheless, he was still a good captain.

James had hired Peter in charge of spying on the Slytherin team, as a rat of course, so that he wouldn't be seen. Then he would report back to James with what they were doing; usually about their new plays and tidbits about the team players that would come in handy. Then James would format the game plan accordingly. He knew that spying was wrong, but he wasn't really cheating. It's not like he was breaking any rules. Certainly anyone can watch a team practice, they would just be seen, and then Slytherin would probably change things. But this way, Clintick would never even know.

Mid-October came around mighty fast and the Slytherins were working very hard at practice for they wanted to break the Gryffindor winning streak once and for all. With practices five times a week it was very hard to keep up with the large work load that the teachers piled on. And that was where Snape and Douglas came in.

Snape was not the most popular of students, but he was liked well enough by his fellow Slytherins. What he needed an edge in with the Quidditch team to achieve his goal. Though he was not a prefect like his enemy, James Potter, he was quite bright, especially concerning the dark arts. So when Clintick, and David Greene, the other beater, needed help with their homework, Snape and Douglas were only too pleased to lend a hand. Of course they had their ulterior motives.

The Marauders, however, couldn't be troubled with doing extra homework for other people; they were busy with what they had. The Gryffindor team was also on five a week practices, if for no other reason than to match and intimidate the Slytherins. Practices had to be rotated, as there was only one field. Practices lasted about two hours, and for four teams, that was eight hours, sometimes in the sun, other times in the dark. Either way James and Sirius had too much to do and not enough hours in the day to do it in. The teachers, as always, piled on the work as if their class was the only one that the students were taking.

Peter, even though he was not playing Quidditch, was struggling the most. He was not as smart as the other three so he always needed their help and Remus was the only one available to do it.

"No, Peter. How many times do we need to go over potions for you to get this right?" he asked Peter on Thursday night.

"I'm sorry, just once more. I think I will get it the next time," he said. The excitement for the coming match was rising, and Gryffindors and Slytherins were beginning to feel the tension. Focus was at an all time low, it was very hard to concentrate on homework, especially when the team came in after practice. The entire common room would burst with excitement and cheers when they came in through the portrait hole. James and Sirius were the ringleaders of the whole thing; they were the ones who always hyped everything up so that people were on their edge by game time.

Nothing was different on Thursday night. In through the portrait hole came James, Sirius, Casey, Brian, Chris, Sam, and Penny, and the room erupted.

"You see, Remus? How am I supposed to learn this potion if I can't even hear myself think?" he asked.

"I know what you mean," Remus said, smiling however.

Just then Sirius called for silence. Everyone listened to hear what he had to say.

"My fellow Gryffindors," he began, "Slytherin is dead!" people began clapping and whooping, then Sirius raised his hand again calling for silence. "Gryffindor is going to bring the worst defeat to Slytherin in the history of Hogwarts, and I would like for you all to give a hand for our great Seeker, Penny, who is only with us this last year," he moved aside, let Penny wave, and allow the Gryffindors to cheer her on. "Ladies and Gentleman, nothing, I repeat nothing, is going to stop us. This Saturday, I promise you, that the Slytherin team will be wishing that they never came into this world!" The loudest noise yet came forth, "GO GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius shouted over the mass chaos.  


The mood in the Slytherin common room was not that different. Clintick had led his team into the same fervor, and all the Slytherins were under the belief that they would win, and break the Gryffindor's five year winning streak.

"The Gryffindor's are arrogant," Clintick said slowly and quietly to the common room, "and that is their greatest weakness. They have nothing against us. They might have better brooms, but we have stronger players," as he said this, his big burly team mates all flexed their muscles; they did not have much in the way of brains. "We are going to destroy, dominate, and WIN!" he yelled to a roaring room.

When he finished his speech, Douglas and Snape decided to make their move.

"Andrew, may we have a word with you and David?" Snape asked greasily.

"Of course Severus," he said, and then he motioned to David. "What do you need?"

"It concerns James Potter. I want you to kill him," he said. Andrew and David looked shocked and the bluntness of this statement.

"Excuse me, did I hear you right? You want us to kill him? I admit I was never crazy about him, but killing him would send us to prison. He is not worth that to me."

"You are the Beaters. Hit him hard on the head, it will look like an accident," Snape persuaded.

"Severus, you have to understand that while you detest him, he is very good in the air, and hitting him will be difficult. To kill him he would need to be struck directly to the head," David put in.

"I will pay you 50 galleons each if you kill him, 25 if he is permanently damaged. Do we have a deal?"

David and Andrew looked each other convinced. 

"If you don't mind me asking, why do you want him dead?" Andrew asked.

"He has something that I want, let's just leave it at that, shall we? You do your job, so that I can do mine."

"It isn't her, is it?" David asked with a sly grin. Snape stared at him and turned away.  


Friday morning was nothing short of highly spirited. The anticipation of the coming game was growing greater each minute, as was evident by the close encounters between the two houses. 

Penny Thompson was receiving death threats from some Slytherins if she were to play on Saturday, and Sam Moore, the Beater, almost got a detention for fighting Cody Baines, a Chaser, in the hall. 

Remus, Sirius and Peter were walking to Divination Friday morning, hoping for good fortunes.

"She will just predict my death, again, she always does," Sirius said.

"She doesn't know anything, you know?" Remus said, "You're not going to be killed by a mad axeman, or drowned in the lake, you are going to live forever, or so you say."

"That's right, I am going to live forever," he said reassuring himself. Peter chucked.

"So there seems to be someone missing from our group. Where is he Sirius?" Remus asked.

"Don't know," he said.

"You, don't? So he could be falling off a tower and you don't know?" Peter asked.

"Peter, just can it," Sirius said. They were pretty silent on their long journey up to the tower, many people passed them, and winked at Sirius, no doubt it had to do with the game on Saturday. Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were giving words of encouragement to him.

"So where's James?" a Hufflepuff fourth year asked Sirius. He just shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Nervous?" Peter asked.

"Naw, Slytherin is toast," he said firmly. "Goners," he insisted. They continued to walk silently up the third flight of stairs toward the Divination tower, until three more people asked Sirius where James was. "Hey, Sirius, where's the Captain of the team?" "Don't know," he would answer with a growing irritation. So when a small 2nd year asked where he was, Sirius lost it.

"NO, I don't know where he is. I don't have his walking schedule. He's not here, so leave me alone, will you?" he yelled at him. The poor kid looked horrified and ran down the hall. "Freaks," Sirius mumbled to himself. Students down the halls all looked at Sirius a little oddly. He just looked back at them with a "come on and challenge me why don't you" look. But no one did, they just kept on their way to class. "I wish they would just leave me--"

"There you are," James came up behind and pushed him. "People have been asking me where you are, it's the weirdest thing," he said.

"Asking you, they've been asking me where you are," Sirius told him shaking his head.

"Yeah," Peter said, "he just took the head off some poor second year cause he asked about you."

"Really? How thoughtful of you, Sirius," James replied.

"Not to sound redundant, but where were you any way?" Remus asked.

"They have a test in Arithmancy today. Lily was a bit nervous, so I walked her to class."

"Ah, how sweet of you," Sirius said sarcastically, "you don't walk me to class when I have a test. I'm jealous James."

"Shut up," he said jovially. Just then a rowdy group of seventh year Gryffindors were coming down the stairs. James and Sirius raised their hands in the air, and the seventh years did the same. Then as if rehearsed they shouted, "GRYFF-IN-DOR!" and slapped hands as they passed. 

"That's a little creepy," Remus said to them.

"House Spirit, Remus. Show a little," James said to him. "Hey do you think they're pretty," he said to Sirius just before he gave him a friendly nudge into a large group of very gigglely third year girls. They screamed a startling scream, then laughed when they saw who had crashed into them.

Sirius went back to his group to find all of them in hysterics. "Yeah, laugh it up why don't you," he said before he shoved James into Remus, who in turn hit Peter, who ran into a passing Slytherin girl. She glared at the four of them, stuck her nose in the air and kept walking.

"She was gonna kill me!" Peter said.  


When they reached the Divination tower, James and Sirius were still in deep conversation about the coming game, and wondered what Trelawny would have to say about it. Sure, she was a bit unreliable but a good fortune couldn't hurt. They each climbed the rope ladder, went inside the sweltering room to find the professor hovered over her crystal ball. The four of them went to their usual table and sat down ready to hear the new nonsense that she had to offer.

"Welcome my dears," she said in her airy voice. "Today we will continue our crystal gazing. You will find that the orbs are already on your tables. Gaze into them, and tell your classmates what you see. I will come around and check on your progress."

"Five galleons says she sees death in mine," Sirius whispered.

"Ten," Remus replied.

The four of them took turns looking into the crystal balls, but saw nothing but their reflections. Sirius was actually adjusting his hair in his orb, when Trelawny came right behind him.

"And what do you see?" she asked him.

"Actually professor, I don't really see anything in my future. I think I'm going to be a bum," he said, and the other three sniggered. 

Knowing that she always had something to say about Sirius's future, the entire class looked over in his direction.

"Let me see, my dear," and she got so close to the orb that her nose was almost touching it. "Well, it's not clear dear,"

"That's what I have been saying all of these years," Sirius said with some concealed agitation.

"Wait a moment," she said as if she didn't hear him. "I see something, something strait and narrow."

"A Broomstick?" James asked excitedly. "Can you see us winning the game tomorrow professor?" Sirius smiled at him. The class began laughing.

"No, I think it's a sword."

"A sword?" Sirius asked, "Who the hell uses swords?"

"Executioners, my dear boy!" she looked terrified as she said this. Girls all around the room let our sounds of panic. James tried as hard as he could not to laugh, but the pain was too much, and a small snort came out. 

Trelawny turned to look at him.

"Let us look in your orb, Mr. Potter," and she glided over to his side of the table. She bent down low to get very close to his crystal ball. She gazed in it for a while, then came up.

"Well, I'm very sorry dear boy," she said solemnly.

"What," he asked, "what do you see?"

"Sadness. Great sadness in your family."

"Well, why are they sad?" he asked more firmly.

"Oh, I cannot tell you. My Inner Eye is such a burden to me. To know what is coming in a students life can be a horrible thing, as in your case." She moved around their table and went to one of the girls table. She had never predicted anything for James; he was beginning to worry. Sadness, why, why were they all sad?

"If I croaked every time and every way she said I was going to, they would write books about me. Don't worry about it James, she's a certifiable nut!" Sirius told James as they were leaving Divination. James was a little uneasy about this.

"I hope you're right," he said, "I hope you're right."

"I am right, so stop thinking about this and focus on the game."  


Saturday morning came rather quickly and the entire team was a bit nervous. James kept pestering Penny Thompson on the considerableness of her catching the snitch as quickly as possible. Sirius and Sam, the two beaters, kept lifting and exercising their muscles, which the girls liked to watch. Then, at long last-- 

"Team, let's go!" James said and they headed down to the Quidditch locker rooms.

"I cannot emphasize enough on the importance of this game," James said to his team in the locker room. "We are undefeated. We cannot let Slytherin beat us, we cannot let them score," he said looking at Casey, "we cannot let them strike us," looking at Sam and Sirius, "and we cannot let them win," he said to Penny. "We, are the best. Slytherin knows this, and they have been working their asses off to try and beat us." He looked at the six of them for a while, silently. "We are a team. When we go out onto the field, we cease to be individuals. We become excellent, impenetrable, skillful flying aces who command victory!" Smiles were beginning to spread across their faces. "We are Gryffindor. Nothing will get in our way, especially seven ugly and stupid guys who can't tell their left hand from their right. We will win," he said, with his fingers pointing in the air. It was quiet, no one said anything. They all looked up at James, adrenaline surging through their veins. "Now lets go out their and slaughter them!"

The entire team began yelling, shouting and whooping as they ran to the field gates waiting to be announced to the entire school.

"You sure have a way of firing everyone up," Sirius told James.

"It's the greatest part of the job, my friend."  


Out on the field, everyone was ready to see the highly anticipated game. Commentating was Gryffindor third year Al Davis, who was very flamboyant.

"Welcome ladies and gentleman to the first Quidditch match of the season: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin! Onto the field now is the Slytherin team," and the Slytherins flew out of their gate and did loops around the field. The Slytherin students went crazy with cheers, the rest of the school remained silent.

"And now, ladies and gentleman, what you have all been waiting for, the five time Quidditch cup winners, Gryffindor!" The entire pitch went crazy with cheers as the team flew onto the field. Penny was the first and James was the last, looping around the field like wild eagles. James then went in front of the Gryffindor pitch and flew past them very fast, punching the air with his fist, as the students roared: "GRYFF-IN-DOR!" James had done that at every game since his third year and it was not a game until he led them in a silly cheer. 

"You love doing that, don't you?" Sirius asked as he flew beside him.

"Don't you know it," James replied with a devilish grin. Then he flew down to the center of the field to shake Clinticks hand. It was good sportsmanship and a tradition for the team captains to shake before the game. Both of them hated doing it, I mean, it wasn't like they even tolerated each other; they were out for blood. James metaphorically, and Andrew literally.

The two captains approached, stern looks on their faces. When they grabbed hands they squeezed just a little too hard. James faked a smile and said through gritted teeth: "Your toast!"

"You're dead, Potter," Clintick said through his phony smile. The released hands and went back to their brooms, rising into the air waiting for the game to commence. Madam Hooch stepped into the center of the field to release the bludgers which went flying strait into the air. Then she took out the Quaffle and tossed it high.

"And the game begins!" Al Davies shouted over the loud speaker. "Captain James Potter takes the Quaffle and drives down the center of the field, knocking those ugly Slytherin beaters out of the way. He passes to Brian Johnson and he goes for the--Oh that must have hurt! Viktor Vancas of Slytherin rams Johnson and takes the Quaffle. He's flying fast ladies and gentlemen, he passes to Baines. Sirius Black sends the bludger his way, but misses, Baines goes to score and-- Nice save, by Casey Riley! This is her first year on the team, and she is doing great, not bad looking either, and she throws the Quaffle to James Potter! Potter takes it up the center, but is blocked by Robert Castle, who seems to be kicking him! This is uncalled for, ladies and gentlemen! Foul on Slytherin.

"And James Potter will take the foul shot. He is lining up for the shot, Dustin Shaw the Slytherin keeper is preparing for a tough save. James is looking left, and looking right, he is definitely thinking of a great strategy. And he takes the Quaffle, he throws left, No, he throws right! What a fake out! And Gryffindor Scores 10 to nothing!"

Sirius flew passed James and slapped his hand. Slytherin was given the Quaffle, and they tried their hardest to get it past the middle field, but Sam Moore, the other beater for Gryffindor smashed a bludger right in the shoulder of Robert Castle who in, dire pain, do doubt, dropped the Quaffle. James came up from behind him, snatched it, and headed the other way. The crowd went wild with screams and cheers for the excellent save.

James took the Quaffle down the center of the field; no one was in his way. He charged on Dustin Shaw faster than he expected, and put the Quaffle through the center hoop.

"Twenty-zero Gryffindor! Shaw passes to Baines who takes it up the left!" Al screamed. Sirius and Sam exchanged nasty grins, then nodded to each other. The bludger came pelting towards Sirius direction and he smacked it as hard as he could at Baines, but David Greene saved it and hit the bludger in James direction. 

"James! Heads up!" Sirius yelled to James.

James saw the bludger pelting for his head, getting larger and larger as it came nearer. He ducked just as the bludger came upon him. He turned to look behind him and saw the bludger traveling the opposite direction.

"Ha!" he yelled, looking forward again. But he didn't see the second bludger as it bolted him in the stomach and not only knocked the wind out of him, but knocked him off the back end of his broom. He was really lucky that he was flying low, so he only had fall fifteen feet. Nevertheless, it hurt like hell.

The crowd panicked and let out sighs of grief and fear. The Slytherins were cheering louder than when their team entered the field. Snape couldn't help but hold his breath that James broke his neck and waited for him to move. 

Sirius found the next bludger and shot it toward Clintick, with all the strength he could muster.

James got up slowly and shook his head. The crowd began cheering again, but the Slytherins started to boo. Remus and Peter were having a real tough time keeping Lily in the stands. As soon as James was struck, she almost lost control and tried jumping into the field. Now that he was up, she wanted to run to him. He fingernails were in her mouth, chewing them nervously.

While all of the Gryffindors were watching the state of their team captain, Slytherin had scored a goal.

"Slytherin makes a score after Clintick nearly killed James Potter, twenty to ten, Gryffindor," Al said with a little apprehension.

James stood up, a little disoriented and picked up his broom ready for more action. But he didn't get very far into the air. David Greene hit a bludger at him, this time striking him hard on the lower back.

"The Bloody bastards!" Lily yelled, much louder than she thought, because now all the Gryffindor students were looking at her. "What? That's horrible, it's cheating!" she yelled at them.

James fell again, but not so far. He managed to signal to Madam Hooch for a time-out. The entire team came down to meet him. They all looked extremely upset about all of this.

"James, they're out to get you," Casey Riley said. The rest of the team nodded in agreement.

"Look," James began, "I don't know what is going on, but we cannot loose. You hear me, we cannot loose."

"James, Casey's right, they have you marked," Sirius said. "They haven't sent the bludgers to anyone but you."

"Well, don't I feel special," he said sarcastically. "Here's the plan. Penny, no pressure, but you find and catch the snitch if it kills you. Sirius, Sam, try to keep Greene and Clintick off my back, Chris and Brian, we need to work some magic," he said to his team. "Casey, you're beautiful, keep it up."

Casey smiled, and with that the team broke and headed for the skies. James, Brian and Chris all headed out together towards the Slytherin side. At the moment Robert Castle had the Quaffle and he was heading towards them. He passed the ball to Viktor, who tried to fly under them, but James signaled for Brian to cut him off. It worked until Viktor passed it back to Robert, who throw it behind him to Cody Baines. 

James had just about enough of this. He broke formation and nearly rammed Cody into the wall as he flew at him at top speed. Cody broke off and flew right. Then he passed the Quaffle to Viktor.

Sirius flew towards the coming bludger, and smacked it at Viktor. Viktor saw this coming and threw the Quaffle to Robert, only-- 

"Excellent interception by James Potter! Well I can tell you all that Vancas and Castle were not expecting that! And James has the Quaffle, he's flying fast-oooh, he dodges another bludger, and scores! Thirty-ten Gryffindor!" Al Davies yelled with excitement.

"Those fools!" Snape yelled to Douglas. "They're supposed to kill him! It can't be that hard!"

Back in the game, Brian Johnson scored another goal, bringing it back to forty to ten. Penny Thompson and Jake Ballard were both looking for the snitch high above the stands. But there was no sight of it.

James had the Quaffle again. He plowed through the Chaser defense that Slytherin put up. He faked Shaw again and put it through the left most loop, scoring 50 to ten. The Gryffindor students were going crazy; the Slytherins were swearing badly.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. Cody Baines rammed James from the left, nearly knocking him off of his broom. But this time, James was not going to stand for it. James lashed out and kicked Cody, who rammed him back. Then Cody grabbed James's shoulder and started tugging to try to un-broom him. James started punching him with his other fist, leaving only one hand on the broom.

Madam Hooch was blowing her whistle furiously. "Foul on Gryffindor!" she shouted.

"What are you talking about?" James demanded, "He was messing with me first!"

"You are not to punch out another Chaser, Potter, you know the rules. Baines take the foul," she said.

Cody looked at James with an evil smirk. Then he took the Quaffle and shot it through one of the Gryffindor goal posts. Casey tried her hardest to stop it, but failed.

"50-20, Gryffindor still in the lead!" Al said over the loud speaker.

"Come on, Penny," James said to himself, as he passed the Quaffle to Chris Muller, who was knocked out by a bludger just as he caught the Quaffle. Chris fell fast to the field; someone in the stands slowed him down with magic, and it was a darn good thing because he fell at least one hundred feet.

From the looks of it he was out cold. It was down to Brian and James to keep scoring. Viktor had taken the Quaffle and headed toward Casey, but James and Brian be-lined it over to her to try to stop him. Brian came at him from the left, James from the right, but Viktor managed to score.

"50- 30 Gryffindor!" James heard Al say. _They're catching us_, James thought. Penny had to find the snitch soon or they would loose their close lead. Another bludger came pelting for James's head, but he ducked in the nick of time. He caught the Quaffle and headed toward the Slytherin posts.

"Brian, cover me!" James said, as he tucked the Quaffle under his left arm. Brian circled around James trying to keep the three other chasers away from him. Then James's luck just got worse. Another bludger, hit by Greene, struck Brian on the arm. James could hear a snap as Brain let out a groan of pain.

"Sorry James!" he said with tears leaking from the corner of his eyes, slowly descending to the ground. He was all alone now. He flew as fast as he could for the goal, and scored.

"All alone, Captain James Potter scores for Gryffindor, 60-30 they still have the lead," Al yelled excitedly. "Hold on, Penny Thompson seems to have spotted the snitch! She's diving fast!"

Every ones attention turned to Penny's direction. Jake Ballard was not going to wait around, and he dove for the snitch right after Penny.

"Come on, Penny, you can get this," James said to himself. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"Heads up!" Sirius yelled as he came soaring above James and dove to his left to hit a bludger headed for James's head. Sirius smacked it the other direction and then looked at James, then Penny.

Penny was trying everything that she could to get her hands on the snitch, but Ballard was interfering. He kept ramming and shoving her, trying to get her out of the way.

"I have to help her," James said.

"How?"

"I have no idea," and James flew after Jake and Penny, having no clue as what to do. He came up to Jake, and tried to pull him away from Penny, but nothing did it. Then he tried moving in front of him, trying to veer him off course, but that too failed. Then Jake slugged him hard on the face, knocking James's glasses to the ground.

_This is great. Now I can't see anything._

"James, help!" Penny hollered. But he could only see a red blur and a green blur flying very fast. James flew closer to the green blur, and started ramming him again. Just then Penny dived fast, her hand outstretched reaching for the elusive golden snitch.

"James, look out!" Sam yelled, as yet another bludger came at him. James pulled up fast and steep, as the bludger hit Jake Ballard in the ribs and knocked him out.

Penny grabbed the snitch and the crowd went wild.

"Gryffindor wins!" Madam Hooch said. Al Davis echoed her. Gryffindors couldn't contain the excitement. Even though James couldn't see very well, he headed towards what he thought was the middle of the field. Sirius, Casey, Sam and Penny all collided into a huge hug, and descended slowly to the ground. 

Gryffindor students ran onto the field to congratulate their champions. James ran to Penny and hugged her. 

"You did it, you were great!" he said to her. She smiled back at him.

"Thanks, but I couldn't have done it without you," she yelled over the cheering Gryffindors.

"I need my glasses! I can't see anything, I am missing our winning!" James said to who he thought was Sirius.

"I have them," he heard from the voice he loved more than any other voice. Lily ran into his arms and placed his glasses on his face just as she began to kiss him. He lifted her into the air and spun around in circles, still kissing her.

"Oh, get a room!" Remus said to them as he came onto the field. Lily slid down, but she was still level with his face, hanging onto his shoulders.

"You won," she said to him, gazing into his smiling eyes. "I was worried about you," she said.

"She was swearing James," Remus said grinning. James looked at Lily again shocked.

"You, you were swearing?" he asked her, still holding her up in his arms.

"They were trying to kill you. I think that I am aloud to swear for that, don't you think?" she said before she started kissing him again.

Sirius came over to his group of friends. Liz and Jade rushed over too. Jade ran to Sirius to hugged him and congratulate him.

"James, we won! We beat them with four players!" Sirius said to James. He reluctantly pulled away from Lily, and let her down to hug Sirius. Then Sirius hugged Lily, everyone was happy for everyone else...so it seemed.

"Hey, James, Sirius and Lily! Pose for a picture!" Liz Banks cried. James put his arm around Lily, who laid her head on his chest with both arms encircling his waist; Sirius on the other side of James put his arm around his shoulder. They all smiled into the camera to make a great picture. The crowd still going wild, James turned to look at Lily, put his hands gently around her face, and kissed her yet again.  


Severus Snape looked at the two of them, burning with rage and jealousy. Then he turned and walked towards David and Andrew.

"What happened? He's supposed to be dead!" he shouted at them.

"Look, Snape, we tried our best! We even managed to knock him to the ground. It looks like you will have to steal her another way!" Clintick said to Snape, and stormed off towards the lockers.

Severus watched David and Andrew walk back to the locker rooms, and then he saw the rest of the school celebrating Gryffindor's win. No one could possibly understand, he thought. He was always beating him, at everything. Well, not this time.

"What are you going to do now, Severus?" Douglas asked Snape, as he was watching James spin Lily high in the air.

"I don't know," he replied thoughtfully. "I just don't know."

* * * * *

Many Gryffindors didn't wake 'til mid Sunday morning, due to the fact that they were up most of the night celebrating Gryffindor's win. Sirius, however, broke the record by finally rolling out of bed at 1:20 in the afternoon.

He went down the stairs, still wearing his black sleeveless t-shirt, and his gray sweat pants, expecting to find people rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, but found no one. 

"Huh," he said looking around, "I wonder where everyone is." He walked over to the wall clock and saw that the time read 1:24 p.m. "My God," he said just as the portrait door opened.

"Look who finally go out of bed to see the sun shine," James said as he came through the door. Sirius looked at him, and smiled. James had a black and blue bruise just around his left eye, from the Quidditch match.

"Speaking of shining," Sirius said to him, "your shiner looks really bad. Have you seen Madam Pomfrey about that."

"Are you kidding?" he said to Sirius. "She over reacts to everything. She'd have me in there for a week before she'd let me out."

"So where is everyone?" Sirius asked.

"Hogsmeade. I was just there, and decided I had enough; thought I'd see if you were up yet. So what do you want to do?"

"How much time do we have before people start coming back?"

"Well, Lily and Jade are coming back around two, Peter's doing something with someone, I don't remember so don't ask, and Remus is spending some time with Liz, and won't be coming back til about five."

"Remus is spending time with Liz?" Sirius asked almost choking.

"Yep, she asked him to stay with her," James said as he grinned broadly.

"Okay, that's fine. I know what we're going to do with our, how many minutes do we have again?" Sirius asked.

"About thirty minutes," James said nodding his head. "So what are we going to do?"

"How is it that Remus...but what about...this is just..." Sirius went on for a while saying parts of sentences while looking confused.

"Are you okay?" James asked. "We're running out of time. We need to do something other than just stare at each other while we think of something to do. We're the dream team, remember?"

"I'm alone, James. You go off with her most of the time. We never do stuff anymore. I appreciate the generous half an hour that you dedicate to time with me, out of the past...two months, but that's not enough time to do anything," he said a little more irritated than he wanted to sound.

James looked at him for a while, not really knowing how to respond. "So what are you saying? You don't want me to see her anymore? I have to make a choice between my best friend and the girl I want to spend eternity with? Does that seem fair to you? Look, I'm real sorry that I found commitment and happiness with someone, and you haven't. But I'm not going to give her up because you want to go and blow something up. I won't. I love her, and I want to be with her as much as I can," he said as he looked on to guilty faced Sirius. "I love her, Sirius. I'll die without her. I know that things haven't been the same, and I'm real sorry. I don't want to lose you. You're my best friend, forever. No one else can be. But you have to understand why things are the way they are. She's just so amazing, so amazing, and I enjoy being with her. But I want to be friends with you at the same time, and it gets hard sometimes."

"I didn't mean it like that," Sirius said. "I know you think she's the greatest thing since the Nimbus series. I would never ask you to choose, friends don't do that. It's just not the same with Remus and Peter all the time. I miss you, man," Sirius started to fake cry, which made James smirk. "It's just, you know, when was the last time we set up Snape? Or the last time we roamed the school without supervision?" Sirius started to smile. "Just as long as we tell our grandchildren all the secrets of Hogwarts, and all our Quidditch plays, I'll be happy."

"We will, Sirius," James said seriously.

"You promise?" 

"I promise. We'll be sitting on a porch, so old we cannot even remember the days of the week, and watch our great-great-great grandchildren play Quidditch, and our wives will holler at us to come in for dinner," James said smiling.

"We'll be old, but will still look good," Sirius said grinning. 

"Of course we will. And so will our wives, not as good as us, but pretty nevertheless."

"Speaking of wives," Sirius began.

"Yeah, you need to find one? I've already got mine, where do you want to look?" James said.

"So you told her?" Sirius asked curiously. "You told her you loved her?" James looked at him sheepishly.

"Well... no, not yet. But I will. Someday," he said as he raised his hand into the air and shook it at Sirius.

"You should do it sooner than later, you know?" Sirius said as if he had done it one thousand times.

"Have you ever told any one other than your mother, that you loved her?" he asked.

"No, you're right. I know what you're going to say, and I won't argue with you, it's just...I think she really wants to hear you say it to her, that's all. And I don't think she wants it to be a perfect moment. She just wants to know," he said with great wisdom that he thought he had. "Hey, I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention this to Remus and Peter. Keep it between us," he said and James winked at him. 

"Now, I think you need a girl with a brain."

"Definitely."

"But first you need to change out of your Pjs," James said pointing at Sirius's sweat pants.

"Right, first things first. Let me go do that. But you need to make a chart, of potentials. Your taste seems to be longer lasting than mine."

"Got it, now go change you idiot."

And Sirius went upstairs, glad to have his friend with him.


	6. The Potion

***The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn't to be taken as true to the events before Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Main Characters and locations belong to J. K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.***

Part six: The Potion 

"Jealousy will always lead to thy own destruction."

Potion lessons with the Slytherins were, well, the same. The year was progressing smoothly, as it did usually. Nothing strange seemed to be going on at Hogwarts, nothing to exciting or mysterious, just the same daily jabber of students wandering around and learning occasionally. December rolled in with a thick blanket of snow and a chilled breeze. Quidditch practice lost a little thrill due to the fact that many players had to thaw their hands off of their broomsticks.

Sirius wasn't having much luck with the dating game. It seemed that he became a bit pickier now that he had a model to look up to. But that was a good thing.

Remus on the other hand was doing well with Liz Banks. They were not an item like Lily and James, but the two were very happy. Remus spent most of his time with her. She was an attractive young girl with strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, and a lovely smile. Sirius was getting a little bitter about all of this.

Even Peter, short, stout, jittery Peter was enamored with a sixth year Hufflepuff who was a female version of himself. This left Sirius, the tall hansom specimen of a man, single and alone. James was quick to pick up on this and told him not to worry. Sirius took to hanging around with James, Lily, and Jade Yang, Lily's best friend. It wasn't bad at all quite the contrary; Sirius liked spending time with them. Things almost seemed to be going better than usual.

Looking back, Sirius would laugh at his panic phase when James got together with Lily. Instead of losing a friend, as he thought he would eventually, he gained one.

On Wednesday Gryffindors had potions with the Slytherins down in the dungeon; their least favorite class. Professor Wicks wasn't too bad, it was the atmosphere of the class and that they shared it with Slytherin that was the problem. 

It was also by far Snape's best class. Professor Wicks always showed Snape's potions as the example of what to do, which he was very proud of and he took to gloating about it to nearly everyone. 

"Look at him," James said to Sirius who was sitting to the left of him. "You'd think he found some sort of cure to a horrible disease with that attitude."

"What an ugly-" Sirius began, but Lily interrupted him.

"Sirius, shhhh," she said putting her pointer finger to her lips and giving him a stern look.

"Hey, James was talking too, why don't you shhh him?" he said to her quietly. She looked at him with a, "I cannot believe you even said that to me, how dare you" look on her face. Sirius looked away from her sorry that he said it. James started to snigger.

"James, try to contain yourself, please," Lily said to him.

"Yeah, James. How am I supposed to hear anything over your fit of the giggles?" Sirius added sarcastically. This only made things worse. People around them had been listening and found this funny and began laughing. Lily couldn't help but smile a little.

"Excuse me," Professor Wicks said to them. "Do I need to separate the three of you, or are you going to quite down and listen to my lesson?"

"Sorry Professor," Sirius said. Wicks kept on talking about Veritserum, the truth potion, when Snape started whispering to Douglas Lacy. Sirius elbowed James and pointed at Snape and Douglas. "What do you think they're up to?" he asked.

"I have no idea, but it doesn't look like they're up to something noble does it?" James asked in a hushed voice. Lily looked over at them again.

"What is so important that you need to disrupt class?" She asked James.

"Them. Snape and Lacy are up to something," James said to her. She rolled her eyes at him.

"You guys are so paranoid," she said to them. "They're whispering the same way you two whisper to each other during class."

"That's right Lily, and when we talk like that, we're up to something," James said. He turned to look back at Sirius. "So what do you figure?" he asked Sirius.

"Definitely something."

"We should check it out. Maybe we should have Peter follow them around, you know?" James whispered very quietly, leaning over to him so Lily could not here them.

Snape turned and looked back at James and Sirius. They saw him, stopped whispering, and stared right back. Snape smiled with his thin curled lip, and his eyes narrowed as he looked at James. James gave him a hard searching gaze. Snape was trying to tell him something without saying anything at all. But what? James just kept staring, until Lily snapped him out of it. 

"Will you pay attention, James?" she asked him with raised eyebrows. He looked back at her and smiled.

"Relax, I'm not going to do anything to him," he said.

* * * * *  


Later that afternoon they all split up. James, Lily, and Sirius were to have tea with Hagrid. Peter started studying with Fran, his new Hufflepuff friend. Jade Yang had to work on her charms homework, and Remus and Liz were going to go up to the library to do some potion research. 

"He was up to something, Lily!" James said to her on their way down to Hagrid's hut. "Did you see the way he was looking at me?"

"You're so paranoid, James. Snape's not that bad," she said. "I know that you guys hate him, but he's just...well...a little different that's all, just different."

"You have no idea of just how different he is," Sirius said as he approached Hagrids' door. He knocked three times and waited for Hagrid to let them inside.

"Well there yeh all are," Hagrid said as he opened to the door. "I was beginin to think that yeh wern't comin."

"We would never cancel tea with you, Hagrid," Lily said smiling, and they all went inside the warm hut. It was nice to go into the cabin where a warm fire blazing and escape the cold icy weather which lay on the castle and it's grounds.

"So," Hagrid began, "what are you three doing for Christmas?"

"Going home, the usual," James said nodding his head. 

"My family's taking a trip to Bermuda for Christmas and New Years," Lily said to Hagrid.

"And you, Sirius?" Hagrid asked. 

"I want to go to Bermuda," he said longingly. "I'm just going home, you know. I have to see my family. Don't know if that's a real good thing, but that's what I'm doing," Sirius said, still envious of Lily's trip.

"Sirius, my sister is going too. I would trade with you, only you don't exactly look like me," she said to him.

The conversation was pretty basic; how's school, what are your plans for the future, good Quidditch match, bla bla bla. It wasn't until Lily started walking around the cabin when the conversation became interesting and controversial. 

She picked up her tea and went to sit in Hagrid's big chair. In the seat, however, was Hagrids' crossbow and arrows. She looked at them with curiosity. She picked up the arrows, placed them on the table, and Hagrid came over and removed the crossbow. Then he started sorting through some books on wildlife.

"I didn't know you had a crossbow," she said to him.

"Hafta have it when I go out. Just in case, yeh know," he said nodding his head. Lily nodded also, showing that he knew what he was talking about.

"Have you ever shot anything with it?" she asked innocently. Hagrid stopped sorting through his wildlife care books and looked at her with a terrified expression. Tears were starting to well up in his eyes. James and Sirius exchanged looks of terror. This could be the end. As long as Hagrid didn't say when it happened, they would be safe and law-abiding Lily Evans would know nothing about their illegal secret.

"Hagrid, what's wrong?" she asked with concern.

"Oh my gosh! Would you look at the time," James said jumping out of his seat and moving over to where Lily was sitting. "We should go. It's getting late," he said to her with a nervous smile. 

"No, James," she whispered to him. "Hagrid's upset about something and it's better if he talks about it. Can't you see he's in pain?"

"I'm sure that he probably doesn't want to talk about it. Now lets go," James said to her, taking her hand and pulling.

"No, it's alright James," Hagrid said wiping his black, beady eyes. "I wanna to get it off my chest."

"That's good Hagrid," Lily said reassuringly. "James sit down," she commanded and pulled him down so he sat just to her left. 

"Well, it's bin botherin me fer a long time, now," he began grabbing more handkerchiefs. 

"Yeh have to understand, I didn' mean ta hert 'im," he wiped his eyes with a blue hanky and resumed. Sirius gave a concerned glance to James who was beginning to sweat.

"I shot a buck," he said. Then he let out a huge sob. "'E was the mos' beautiful thing I ever saw. An' I shot 'im," he blew his nose. James and Sirius were hoping that he would stop and leave Lily thinking that he killed it, but then she spoke

"Was it alright, Hagrid?" she asked with great sympathy. Sirius put his hand to his eyes.

"I 'ope so. I only shot him in the left shoulder. Do yeh think 'e might be alright?" he asked.

"He could be just fine, Hagrid," she said to him smiling. James sensed that there could be an opening for him to escape out of and he shot for it.

"You know, Hagrid," he began, "animals can survive with almost anything in any circumstance. He's probably out there romping around as we speak."

"Do yeh think so?" Hagrid asked with hope.

"Yeah," Sirius joined in. "Yeah Hagrid, he's probably even found a pretty doe." Sirius laughed at his joke inside. James looked over at him with a disgusted look on his face that said all to well "don't push it." 

"When did it happen Hagrid?" Lily asked. James could have vomited. Sirius was feeling weak in the knees. Maybe she wouldn't figure it, out they both thought. But Lily was exceptionally bright.

"I remember it like 'twas yesterday," he began. James sat back in his chair to prepare for the blow. "I was drinkin. I shouln't 'ave. Then I went outside and a werewolf came at me. I pulled out an arrow and loaded it. I aimed for it, cause 'e was comin fer me, and then I shot, only the beautiful thing ran in front," then Hagrid sobbed deeply.

James rolled his eyes, Sirius held his breath hoping that he would forget to say when it happened.

"Hagrid, when did this all happen?" she asked again, concern in her voice.

"Last Friday night of September. It was so horrible," and he sobbed in his handkerchief. Lily went over to console him, but he pushed her away. She went back and sat next to James who was chewing his fingernails. For a while he thought that she hadn't put the two together, but then an enlightened look spread across her face like a flood.

"That was the night you and I..." she said to James. Then she stopped and looked around at Sirius, who had true panic spread all over his face. "Did you say the left shoulder?" Hagrid nodded. She put it together. She smiled slyly, leaned back so that her shoulder was touching James, and breathed in deeply.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Hagrid," she said cooly. "I'll bet anything he's alright. Don't you think James?" as she said this she grabbed his left shoulder and squeezed rather hard.

"Just out of curiosity, Hagrid, were there any other animals there, besides the wolf and the buck?"

"Hagrid," Sirius interrupted, "we have to go. Homework you know," he started for the door, James tried to get up, but Lily took his hand and pulled him back down.

"Were there, Hagrid?" she asked again more firmly this time.

"Now that yeh mention it, yeah a rat an a big black dog were there. Kinda strange now that I think of it," he said bewildered.

"Hagrid, Sirius is right; we have to go. It's been nice chatting with you. We should do this again," James said hurriedly.

"Yes, we must go; lots to discuss," Lily said. She got up and hugged Hagrid, though still keeping hold of James; she didn't want him to get away from her. "The buck's fine. I know it. At least he was, I don't know about now. See you around Hagird." And with that last jab at James and Sirius, the three left the cabin.

"So," Lily began on their way up to the castle, "care to refresh your story about how you got an inch diameter hole in your arm, or should I just assume the worst?" she asked in a daring tone.

"Look," James said, "it's kind of hard to explain. I can't really--"

"You're a clever boy, James," Lily interrupted, clearly upset. "I don't know what kind of person you think I am, but I am no where near stupid. It all makes sense now. Spare me the secret squirrel stuff. If you want me to continue our relationship, then I suggest you tuck your masculine pride away and tell me your secrets."

"Lily, wait just--" 

"Do you know the difference between friends and lovers, James? Friends have secrets, lovers have them told to them," and with a stern and determined look, she left them standing there in the middle of the snow with their thoughts. 

James watched her stomp through the snow up to the castle. She was quite angry, he thought. He turned to look at Sirius for some kind of response, but he looked somewhat torn. James had promised his three friends that he wouldn't tell anyone about their secret, including girls. But this, this was different. Wasn't it?

"Sirius, what do you think?" James asked him slowly.

Sirius looked at him, then at the Lily who's shape was shrinking as she made her way for the castle. "Well," he began, "this is a tough one James. On the one hand you have your three best friends that you swore to that you would never tell a soul about our little secret. On the other hand you have the girl you want to spend the rest of your life with, who has an awfully good point."

"But she already knows. She knows that was us. So I didn't tell her," he said trying to find reason in the situation. 

"James," Sirius replied like a father to a son, "she does know. But what she wants is for you to tell her. She wants the whole story, why it happened, how it happened, what's going to happen, et cetera. She wants to hear it from you personally, not Hagrid."

"So I tell her?" he asked.

"This is your call," Sirius said starting for the castle himself.

"No. You are not going to leave me hanging like this. What should I do?"

"I don't know James. All I can tell you is that I never told a girl no matter how pretty she was."

"This is a bit different, Sirius! Please be mature about all of this. I need your advice. I know that you have an opinion, and I would like to hear it."

Sirius stopped walking and faced him. He had a searching look in his eyes, but also full of concern. "You know her. You've known her over five years better than the rest of us. But I know that good secrets travel fast. Let's say you tell her, the entire story, unabridged. She promises you that she won't tell a soul. Only as soon as you leave she tells Jade because Jade won't tell, she's her best friend. Jade tells Liz, who tells someone else and a chain of events occurs. You tell Lily because you don't want to lose her. But now the secret is out and your in Azkaban without her, because she just told one person."

James stood there not having a clue of what to do. Sirius was right, Lily was right. This truly stunk in his mind. There was no winning. He trudged back up to the castle with his mind still working hard to come to a logical solution.  
  
  
Meanwhile back at the castle, Liz and Remus were busy looking up potions in the library for a school project. So far they weren't having much luck finding one they could research. Wicks had given them permission to look in the restricted section for useful potions to find. He gave them a specific warning to not use any potions for personal use, which was a little bit of a shame because some of the potions would be very advantageous. 

Remus and Liz were looking in the "I" section for invisibility potions when they heard an all too familiar cold voice coming from the section adjacent to them.

"It has to be here somewhere," Remus heard Snape tell Douglas Lacy. Lupin was too curious to let this by. Liz didn't approve of spying in most circumstances, but in this case she was all to willing to drop in an ear to hear what Snape was looking for. Remus moved a large book from the "J" section so that he could see Snape better. He was on the opposite shelf site looking in the "L"s. Douglas was becoming frantic looking for something as if his life depended on it.

"I wonder what potion they're looking for," Liz whispered very quietly in Remus's ear. He shrugged to show her that he had no idea. Douglas and Snape kept pulling book after book off the shelves looking fast and hard for the perfect spell.

"Severus?" Douglas finally said, "I think I found it." Douglas was looking in a very large and old maroon book whose binding was frayed and falling apart. Snape went over to his side to look inside the book. He smiled a cruelly as his eyes moved from left to right, reading the potion.

"This is it, Douglas. You found it." Then he reached inside his bag and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill. "Read me the ingredients, quickly though, I don't want people knowing that we did this, or it will all be for nothing."

Remus and Liz strained to hear more, but what they really wanted to hear was the book and page number so they could read it later. 

Douglas read the ingredients to Snape: 14 Lace wing flies, 3 newt's eyes, feather of a song bird, tulip petals, red ones. Fluids from the red rose, wolfsbane...the ingredients got increasingly rare. Neither Remus nor Liz had ever heard of these things being used in a potion before. But the really interesting stuff was left 'til the end.

"Here's going to be the tricky part, Severus. Listen to this," and he lowered his voice. Liz and Remus leaned closer. "You're going to need a braid of her hair. How are you going to get that?"

"We'll worry about that when we need to. Is that all?" he asked looking up from the parchment.

"You also need a bit of his hair too, and I don't know how you're going to get that close to Potter without him noticing you."

Remus and Liz looked at each other with shocked expressions. Remus wished Snape and Douglas would leave so he could see what potion was. Yet no matter how he looked at it, it couldn't be good.

"And you need a bit of the new one. That's you. It's the last thing added; that is very important Severus. You have to add hair from your head as the very last ingredient, twenty-four hours after the rest have stewed over fire. Then you have to place ten drops in her drink. Good luck there," Douglas said flippantly.

"How long does it take to go into effect?" Snape asked.

"Well, from four to six months. It goes slowly so that no one knows about it. It will look natural. But sorry to say Severus," Douglas said with raised eyebrows, "there's a huge difference between you and him. People are going to know that something's up."

"I don't care. Is that all?"

"Yes," said Douglas as he was about to close it. Severus put his hand up.

"What's the page, in case we need to look again."

"1432," Douglas said as he closed the big book. He smiled at Snape, who grinned back at him. Snape folded the parchment carefully and placed it in his robe pocket. Then the two left the library walking a little taller.

As soon as the door closed and Snape and Lacy were gone, Liz and Remus sprinted to the shelf.

"It's the big maroon one," Liz said to him as he was reaching for it. 

"I know which one it is, thanks," he said as he pulled it off the shelf and placed it before them. He opened quickly to page 1432. What met their eyes was a terrifying shock.

Liz looked at Remus, trepidation on her face.

"What are we going to do?" she asked him.

"We can't tell anyone but Sirius. He'll think of something to do."

"But what about James? What do we tell--"

"No," Remus interrupted. "No, we can't tell him. Not anyone except Sirius. Do you understand? If we tell James he'll take matters in his own hands. Remember he already has a short fuse when it comes to Snape. You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone; not Jade and certainly not Lily. No one can known. Alright?" he asked with arched eyebrows.

"I promise."  
  


Remus could tell by the expressions on James and Sirius's faces that something was up. James looked very pensive and Sirius looked concerned. About what, Remus could not tell. He had to tell Sirius about the potion that Snape was planning to stew, but he couldn't tell him with James around; it would make things ten times worse. He didn't have to wait for long for an opportunity. James just went up to the dorms and shut the door behind him. Sirius sat at the table and took out his books, but didn't read them.

"What's going on?" Remus asked him. Sirius looked up and signaled for him to sit down. He did so and Sirius spoke.

"Hagrid spilled the beans to Lily about what happened. You know?" he said in a hushed whisper.

"Oh no. So she knows about us?" he asked.

"Yes...and no. She made it very clear to James that if he wants to stay with her, then he'd have to tell her everything about us. She was part of it that night, so she probably feels she should be privy to it. But he would have to tell her the whole story. I don't think he's ready to do that."

"So are they...well...you know?" Remus asked cautiously.

"No. This all depends on what he wants to do. I don't think any of us should interfere, though it includes all of us. You know what I mean? This is his territory; it's between him and her."

"Do you think he should tell her?" he asked leaning closer.

"Yeah. I mean I know all of us decided not to breathe it to a soul, and I told him that. But James and Lily have always been close and now they're a couple. It's all an issue of trust which they must have to continue the relationship."

"So you don't think she'd tell anyone?"

"No, she's very trustworthy. I told James what could happen if she did tell, but he has to trust her. He needs to do this without our help, as cruel as it sounds." Sirius looked at his book again and tried to read but sensed that Remus wanted to tell him something. He looked up at him. "Is there something else, Remus?" he asked.

"Yes, but you can't tell James," Remus said quietly. Sirius closed his book, stood up, and signaled for Remus to follow him outside. He did so. They exited the common room. They walked around the hallway then went into a deserted corridor so they couldn't be heard.

"Alright. What's up?" he asked.

"It has to do with Snape," Remus said, his hands shaking. Sirius nodded his head in the routine way. "And Lily," Remus continued.

Sirius raised his eyebrows and his eyes widened. He looked up and down the corridor again, making sure that no one was there listening.

"What?" Sirius asked breathlessly. 

"Liz and I were looking in the library, in the restricted section, and we heard Snape and Lacy right next to us talking about a potion. And they found this potion, copied the ingredients out of the book, and left. Liz and I looked it up and....it was bad, Sirius," he said quickly.

"What was it?"

"Lets just say Snape would be killing two birds with one stone if he used it. If he made it all work, James would kill himself; of that I have no doubt."

"Can you show me the book?" Sirius asked. Remus nodded. They went up to the library.  
  


James didn't sleep well that night. Actually, when he thought about it, he didn't sleep at all. He thought it was a little unfair that she would place their relationship on one secret. A secret that was illegal and one he swore not to tell anyone. He could remember Remus telling him, back in their fourth year, that he couldn't tell Lily, no matter how much he wanted to. And he did want to tell her. But what if she did tell Jade? He knew, somehow, that she would never tell, but there was a little voice in his head that made him think other wise.

His father always told him that he knew Samantha was the one for him because he knew he could tell her anything and it would be okay. But his father wasn't an illegal animagus roaming the school and spying on the Minister of Magic. And his mother wasn't the perfect student like Lily seemed to be.

When he got out of bed on Thursday morning, he still hadn't come to an answer. He dressed slowly and went down stairs to realize that Lily had gone down to breakfast without him.

"James!" Sirius called from behind him, running down the stairs. He turned around to face Sirius, who was having difficulty with his tie for some reason. "Whoa," he said looking at him. "You didn't sleep did you?" he asked.

"No, I certainly did not," James said lazily. There were dark bags under his eyes and he was shuffling his feet instead of walking normally. "And she's not here waiting for me either. This is not a good sign," he said through a yawn. Sirius managed to fix his tie and proceeded to fix James's who clearly hadn't bothered. "Do you think she'll leave me if I don't tell her?" he asked fearfully.

"You know her a lot better than I do," he said in reply. "It wouldn't seem right if she did, though." He fixed his tie then they waited for Remus and Peter who came down minutes later.

"Where's Lily?" Peter asked. Remus and Sirius looked at him sternly. Peter looked away quickly.

"She's down in the Hall. Probably saying bad things about me to Jade," James said resentfully.

"You don't know that," Remus said. "She's probably not even talking about you at all, but about classes."

"That would be even worse; forgetting me entirely," he replied. "Let's not talk about it, okay? Can we just go down and not talk about it? I've been thinking all night and I'm tired of it." None of them argued. They went down quietly to the Great Hall for breakfast. Lily was sitting with Jade; she didn't look up at James as he passed her. She didn't look like she had lost a lot of sleep, he noticed. As a matter of fact she was laughing about something. He could feel the temperature in his face rising. 

"James," Remus said, "don't worry about it so much. Everything will work out for you. I know you'll do the right thing. She's not going to break up with you over this," he said reassuringly and softly so no one else could hear.

"That's nice of you to say, but you didn't hear her yesterday," he replied. "Besides, I'm sure there are things she's not telling me, so why do I have to tell her everything? We," he said pointing to each of them, "tell each other everything because were best friends and we know no one would say anything. Right guys?"

Sirius and Remus exchange guilty glances. They did know something they couldn't tell James, especially now.

The bell rang at half past eight. The four of them got up and headed for transfiguration. It felt like they were fifth years, now that they were all walking together again. James could see Lily walking with Liz and Jade way up a head; she didn't turn around to look at him. This was very depressing, he thought.

Other people seemed to notice they were not together, and inquired about it. People asked if they were just fighting, or broken up, just spending time apart. Some guys asked if they could ask her out. Peter, Sirius, and Remus had to hold James back so he wouldn't hurt the curious guys.

They had a seating chart in McGonagall's, of course; the only class with one. It was a recent thing. Well, maybe not so recent. McGonagall had grown tired of yelling, "Black! Potter!" so she moved them to opposite corners of the room. James sat next to Liz Banks, Sirius sat next to Alan Timmons, Peter next to Jade, and Remus sat with Lily. James told Remus to ask Lily questions pertaining to his situation, which he agreed to, but told James that Lily did not talk in class, she listened. But he'd give it a go anyways.

"Today class," McGonagall began, "you will be quietly taking notes from chapters thirty-four, thirty-seven, and thirty-eight. What you don't finish in class is homework. No talking," and then she sat down at her desk, writing, no doubt, the next exam.

James turned to look at Remus and winked at him. Remus nodded his head. He kept reading, well appearing to read, but looked over at Lily. She was following the assignment; writing down important information as she came to it.

Remus cleared his throat to get her attention, but she didn't even glance at him. "Lily," he whispered. No response. Then he poked her in the arm. She looked up at him with an irksome expression. 

She didn't want to talk.

"No, Remus" she said blatantly. "I won't tell you anything. Tell James I will talk to him when he is ready to be a man and tell me everything. Tell him that we shouldn't keep secrets in this relationship. That is all." And without another glance or word, she continued with her work as if she was never interrupted.

James tried his hand at Liz. "Liz, does she hate me?" he asked. She looked up at him and shook her head. "Is she saying bad things about me?" This time she shrugged. "You have to help me out. Put in a good word for me." She didn't do anything; she continued to read her book. "Liz, I know you can hear me. Tell me something."

"Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said. The entire class looked up from their books to stare at James. "I remember asking the class to study. Silently. You have not read a single word from your book. You have been warned," she said firmly. 

James turned to his book. He wrote his name, date, and class on the upper corner of his parchment then he turned around to look at Lily. She was still taking notes. Remus looked up, saw James, and shook his head.

James mouthed to him "What did she say?" 

Remus mouthed back, "Nothing."

"What? Nothing?" he mouthed again. Remus shook his head again. "Keep pushing," he mouthed again.

"Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said again, this time with a note of irritation in her voice. James turned around to face her; she looked upset. "It seems you cannot concentrate in class so you will do so in detention with me this afternoon. The next time you turn around, talk or move your lips, ten points will be taken from Gryffindor. Is that clear?" She looked down at him from her elevated desk, which would scare anyone.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall," he said like it was a routine. And due to the fact that the day would be much worse if he lost points and got a detention, he looked at his book and took notes.

Once class was over, James tried very hard to get Lily to talk to him, but somehow she was always just out of his reach. 

This was awful. Sirius noticed James worrying and tried to steer him clear from a total breakdown.

"Don't panic. So she doesn't want to talk to you right now, big deal," he said nonchalantly.

"What planet do you come from?" James asked him. "Not wanting to talk to someone is a bad thing."

"Actually," Remus said, "she'll talk to you when you want to tell her...you know." James stared at him for a while, then shook his head.

"Can we go to Chambers class and not talk about this? Please, I don't even want anyone to mention her name. I'm already serving three hours in detention with McGonagall and I don't want anymore." They didn't argue with him, but walked to Defense Against the Dark Arts class without saying another word.

These seats were not assigned, so Sirius and Remus insisted on sitting together; James sat with Peter. He didn't really care who he sat next to as he was so deeply in thought about Lily anyway.

"What are we going to do about Snape?" Remus whispered to Sirius.

"I don't know," he said pensively. "Do you have any ideas, Remus?"

"No. I wish I did. If we told a teacher then he would deny the whole thing and resume play."

"Exactly. And if we tell James then he'll personally kill Snape. We definitely don't want that to happen."

"Even though they are on the rocks, James would beat him to a pulp," Remus said confidently.

"That's for sure," Sirius agreed. "We have to eliminate him and make it look like an accident. That way no one knows anything and Snape can't harm anyone ever again. You said they didn't know you were in the library?" he asked to double-check.

"Not a clue."

"So we have to think of a good way, a secret way, to get him out of the way."  


James served his three hours in detention with a very grumpy McGonagall. She made him clean all the desks, the chalkboards, and the floors with out magic. Afterwards she told him the usual. "Try to stay out of trouble for once in your life." Then he left for the common room to find Remus and Sirius deep in conversation; Liz, Jade, and Lily giggling about something, probably him, he thought; Peter was hard at work on his transfiguration homework. James had completed most of his notes in class, as he was a fast study. But he wasn't totally finished. He took his book bag and sat across from Peter and puled out his notes.

"Peter," James said, "what are Sirius and Remus talking about?"

"They won't tell me," he said with a note of sorrow, "as usual. You guys always keep me out of the loop. I don't even know why you and Lily aren't talking. They won't tell me." He gave a manipulative and sorry face to James. He did feel a little guilty about Peter not knowing anything about it.

"Peter," James said with a slight smirk, "she's not talking to me because she wants me to tell her all of my secrets...all of them," he said with raised eyebrows.

"Are you going to tell her?" he asked very interested and glad that he was part of the loop again.

"I don't know yet, Peter. What do you think I should do?"

"I," he began but stopped. "It's your choice, but we promised that we would never tell anyone, and she's anyone."

James stared into his watery blue eyes for a few seconds, then went back to finishing his homework. He was really tired; he hadn't slept for over twenty-four hours and it was starting to take effect. It didn't take him very long to finish the minimal amount of homework he had too d for tomorrow's classes. As soon as he was finished, he packed his book bag and went upstairs to try to sleep. It was only 9:32 and most people were still awake, but he didn't care; he was beat.

As soon as he got into his empty dormitory, he changed and crashed onto his bed. Years from now, he would still regard this time as when he was the most tired, yet only second on the list when it came to having a hard time sleeping.

He tossed and turned all night. He couldn't fall asleep. He was so tired, why couldn't he just knock himself out? He turned to look at his watch, only it was blurry because he needed his glasses. He reached for what looked like them, put them on and saw that his watch read 1:18. He had been awake for about four hours, and he couldn't take much more of this. He knew what he had to do. It was clear to him now. He would want to know if Lily was roaming the school at night if she was an anamagi, so she too had the right to know, didn't she? So he promised never to tell. They'll understand, he would if they were in his situation.

He threw his sheets off of him, flattened his hair, got out of bed and went out of the door. He was just about to open it when he heard, "James?" from the far corner. He turned around and saw that Sirius was looking at him with a questioning face.

"I have to tell her, Sirius. I don't want to lose her," he whispered. He opened the door, exited, and closed it behind him. He looked across the hall at the girls dorms and thought of what to do. He was not aloud to go in there, but he had to get her up to tell her. He sighed, went to the door, and opened it. He peeked his head through the small opening; they were all asleep. He could find Lily easily; her red hair was a dead give away. He tiptoed over to her bed and saw she was fast asleep. Her ravishing face was lying delicately on her pillow.

Gently, he got onto the bed and laid beside her, just watching her sleep. He smiled at the sight of her and ran his fingers through her hair.

"Lily," he whispered. She didn't move. "Lily," he said again, moving his hand on her face. She stirred a little. He put his hand on her shoulder and shook slightly. "Lily," he said for the last time as she groaned quietly, slowly opened her eyes. She looked at him for a few seconds without doing anything. It took a while for her to adjust her eyes and accustom them to what she was seeing.

"You're not supposed to be in her, James," she said silently, her voice still soft and tired, her eyes closed. She didn't seem to mind that his hand was moving over her hair.

"I have to tell you now," he told her. She opened her eyes again then covered his hand with hers.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"About 1:30."

"Can we do this in the morning?" she asked lazily, her nose wrinkling up.

"No, I have to tell you now. I can't sleep until I tell you. It won't take long." But she still wasn't moving. James took the liberty of moving her. He put one arm around her waist, the other on her arm, and he began to pull her out of bed.

"James, no. Don't," but she didn't struggle at all. She let him carry her out of bed and out of the dorm. He set her down outside the dorm doors, but she wasn't ready. She fell onto him, her eyes sealed shut. He took her right arm and placed it on his shoulders, put his left arm around her waist, and walked her down the stairs. 

"I'm so tired," she kept saying all the entire journey down and as he sat her on the couch in front of the blazing fire. He went and got her a glass of water to help her wake up; he brought it to her, sat on the opposite side of the couch, and waited for her to wake.

It took longer than he thought it would, but granted it was 1 in the morning. It took about seven minutes after he brought her down for her to open her eyes fully and recognize the fact that James was sitting next to her.

"Alright," she said more alertly. "I'm awake. Spill," she said leaning her head on her erect hand.

"Well, I don't really know where to begin. I've never told anyone before," he said looking down at his hands.

"How about I ask you questions to get you started?" she said. 

"That'll work."

"Does this have anything to do with Remus being a werewolf?" she asked point blank.

James was shocked that she knew. Only they knew that. "How did you know--"

"James," she interrupted, "it really isn't that hard to figure out. I mean, he's always gone when there's a full moon and when he comes back he's tired and worn. And I would like to consider myself somewhat intelligent. So, does it have anything to do with that?" she asked again.

"Yes," he said slowly, still overwhelmed that she knew about Remus. But it was a little obvious, he had to admit, though Snape still hadn't figured it out.

"James, the story please."

"Right. Well, we all found out about him being a werewolf soon enough. We confronted him with the information and he admitted to it. Then he told us where he went once a month."

"Where did he go?" Lily asked. She had clearly been wondering about this for many years.

"There's a tunnel under the Whomping Willow which leads to the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. He stayed there once a month for five years," James said, realizing that telling her wasn't so bad.

"But then the three of you..." she said twirling her hand in front of her signaling for him to continue.

"You have to understand that he hated it there. So, being the good friends that we are, we researched into becoming Anamagi."

"Even though it is a crime when your underage?" she said sternly.

"Yes, but we did it anyway because we wanted to, and you weren't the boss of me then," James said smirking. Lily smiled faintly. "We started looking into it when we were in our second year, and finally mastered it in the beginning of our fifth. We worked at it all summers in between.

"Once we got it down to a science, it was a cinch and a lot of fun, believe me. We roamed the school grounds, the school itself, and eventually we knew the ins and outs of Hogwarts so well we were able to make a map of the school, showing seven secret tunnels out of it. But wait, it gets better. The map can also show anyone at any given time and where they are. So when we go out, we know where Peeves, Filch, and Mrs. Norris are at all times and can avoid them."

"I want to see the map," she said with true curiosity and interest.

"Alright, I'll show it to you when I am done explaining, but you can't tell Jade or Liz anything about the map or anything else I've said," he explained. He was planning on going into further detail 'til she asked him questions.

"I'd never tell them. So what do the four of you do all night long?" she asked skeptically. He thought about this for a while before answering her. It appeared as though the whole Marauder thing wasn't really bothering her, so he decided to just let the whole thing spill.

"Actually, most recently we have been spying on big Ministry representatives, getting the latest news," he looked at her to see her expression; she had raised eye brows with a slight smirk.

"Heard anything good?" she asked, smiling.

"Well, you know...the usual. Do you want to hear the rest of my story, or the things we hear?"

"Continue please. Tell me what happened the night Hagrid shot you."

"Well," he began turning to face her, "everything was going as planned. We went to the village without being seen and sent Peter into the Hogshead pub to spy on the Minister of Magic. Peter went into the bar. Sirius turns into a large black dog, so he wandered the streets picking up information, though on that night he was entertaining a group of girls. I stayed on the hill over looking the village and keeping an eye on Remus. I got distracted from him, however, and focused too much on the activity in the village. I didn't see that Remus was heading down for the Hogshead just as Hagrid was leaving. Remus was going to attack him, and I had to go and stop him. It was just as Hagrid told it after that. He went to shoot Remus as I was coming to move him out of the way, only Hagrid's arrow hit me. It was a good thing to because the arrow was silver tipped and it would have killed him."

"How did you get back?" she asked.

"Walked slash hobbled. I fell twice but I make it back." Lily looked at him with her nose scrunched.

"Who pulled it out?"

"Sirius," he said quickly. "Which is really something because he gets sick at the mere mention of blood. It was really bad. Sirius and Peter went up to the castle and stole the medical supplies. They tried their best to fix it up, but as you saw, that wasn't good enough. And so we all went back up to the castle. That's what happened with that."

"So, every night there's a full moon, the four of you wander around God knows where getting into trouble because it's fun?" she asked skeptically. 

"That's right, and I am going to continue to do it, I'll have you know," he said with authority. She looked at him with a sweet expression and giggled at his attempt to seem authoritative.

"What?" he asked blankly. She couldn't seem to stop smiling at him.

"Nothing," she said trying to contain herself. "So do I get to see?"

"See what?"

"You. The other you," she said.

"I would, only someone might come through the portrait door and see me."

"So get that map you're so proud of and make sure that no one's coming," she said with a manipulative smile, which he could never deny.

"Alright," he said with a long sigh as he slowly got off the couch and started marching up the stairs. He pushed his dormitory door open and quietly snuck inside, being careful not to wake anyone. He went over to his trunk, lifted it, and pulled out the map and his wand. Then he went back downstairs to find Lily still sitting there in front of the fire.

"Here it is," he said to her showing the blank parchment.

"You have it locked, don't you?" she said standing up and taking it in her hands.

"Of course. We don't want anyone seeing it so consider yourself lucky," he told her. "You need your wand to open and close the map. Just say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,' as you tap it and the map appears."

"How original," she said then took his wand, placed the map on the table in front of the fire, and said "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." She couldn't help but grin broadly as she rehearsed this. Then, very slowly, where her wand touched, lines emerged, cris-crossed, and spread to every corner of the first blank parchment to form the Marauders Map.

Lily dropped her jaw when she gazed down at the pure genius that went into this map. She turned to look at James again, who was clearly enjoying her surprise.

"James this is amazing!" she said picking up and examining it closer. "I don't approve of course," she told him, "but pure genius nevertheless."

James could tell she did like the map and the idea, but wasn't ready to lower her perfect student facade just quite yet. He knew there was a playful side inside of her; he'd seen it, but she had a habit of hiding it.

"Here we are," he said pointing to two small dots labeled 'James Potter' and 'Lily Evans" found inside the Gryffindor common room. "And it looks like McGonagall is asleep in her room, and Filch is in the trophy room chasing Peeves. So you keep an eye on anything that comes around our tower, okay?"

"Alright," she said excitedly taking the map and sitting back on the couch. He moved in front of the fire and felt as though he was about to do a dance or something. She sat there eagerly waiting for him to transform; her eye's were bright and her grin was broad.

"Okay," he said. "Just remember that this took three years to perfect, and only three seconds to do." Then he smiled just on more time then snapped his fingers. The silver wave swept from his head all the way down to his feet. James was no longer standing in front of the fire, but a strong, handsome stag instead.

Lily stood up, her mouth open in amazement. She walked over to him. "Oh my gosh!" she said in excitement. Goose bumps were beginning to show on her skin. "James, you look magnificent!" She raised her hand, ready to touch him when she stopped. "You do understand me, right?" she asked.

He nodded his head and approached her. He did look magnificent. He was very muscular, with a rich tan coat, and tall antlers atop a very handsome head. He had large, dark, glossy eyes, in which she could see her reflection, and a protective demeanor. She reached out her hand and touched the top of his head. She smiled widely and started to walk around him. Then, still being the fun loving James, he started to walk around her.

"James, stop," she said laughing. He stopped walking around, but went to look at the map which Lily left forgotten on the table. He looked down on it, saw nothing, but also saw nothing in looking like this in the common room. He transformed back without effort into his own self and looked at a very cheerful Lily. 

"That's awesome James!" she said with much enthusiasm. He couldn't help but smile. He had never showed anyone before, and he was very glad that he'd shown her. It was only right that she knew about him.

"I'm glad you liked it," he said to her still grinning. "But you don't approve, right?" he asked her. But she did not frown, she just smiled, giggled and blushed shyly.

"No?" he asked her surprised.

"I have a dark side too, you know," she said with a sinister grin. 

"Do you have secrets, something you haven't told anyone else?" he asked sitting down again.

"Well," she started as she sat next to him, "there is one thing, not even my family knows about it. I haven't told anyone here either."

"So let's here it," he said anxiously, turning on the couch to face her. She looked at him, then she also turned herself so that she completely faced him. 

"When I was about six, I started doing ballet without my parents knowing about it," she said. James looked at her horrified.

"You started doing drugs when you were six?" he asked astonished. Lily laughed manically. "No," she said through her laughter. "Ballet is a dance in the Muggle world. It's very popular."

"I don't get it," he said. "Why would you start something and never tell your parents. Are you bad at it or something?"

"No, it's just that I wanted to do something for me. It seemed as though everything I did was an accomplishment for them, not me. So I would go down the street everyday to my neighbor's house. She was a single woman, living alone. I would keep her company all day, and she would teach me ballet. I asked her never to tell my mother and father; they already thought I was a prodigy or something because I could do magic. I just wanted something that I could keep to myself, and dancing was the answer."

"That's really special, Lily," he told her. "Ballet, huh?" he asked. "I don't suppose you would be willing to show me what it looks like. I have never seen it."

"Oh James, I would, but I don't have ballet shoes with me. I need the right shoes to dance...sorry," she said taking his hand.

"Fine," he said in mock irritation. "I transformed into a stag and you need the right shoes. Fine by me." And he yawned, leaning back onto the couch. Now that he had got if off his chest, he would be able to sleep again.

"So that's it, right?" she asked, making him open his eyes.

"That's the end. The next full moon is the day after tomorrow, or wait," he pulled up his wrist and looked at his watch. "Sorry, the next full moon is tomorrow. We'll be heading out again."

"Do you have any more secrets, or anything else you want to say?" Now that she mentioned it, yes he did. It did seem like the ideal moment. He had just told her the smallest details of his secret life at Hogwarts, shown her even, and she gave him the key to her heart. It seemed right that he tell her now.

He looked into her eyes again and smiled, this time a bit nervously. "There is something," he said slowly taking both of her hands. "Something I should have told you long ago."

"What is it James?" she whispered.

He looked down at her small, delicate hands resting in his. "I've never done this before. But it's really not that difficult to say." He looked back up at her, she had a small innocent smile on her face. "Lily," he said to her, her eyes brightened even more than they already were. "I love you," he said softly yet full of strength. She looked at him with a twinkle in her eye, like she wanted to cry but was far to happy to shed a single tear. "I have for six years, and I should've told you long before now, I just--"

"I knew," she said beaming at him, all her brilliant white teeth sparkling in the firelight. "I knew all along. You know, a lot of girls think that Sirius is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and they would want to go talk to him. So many of them drug me along with them for confidence. But I would never mind going if you were with him. I never saw Sirius, never saw what was so great about him, why girls fell over just looking at him. I always loved you. And I love you now and for all eternity, James," she said squeezing his hands.

Now he could feel himself swelling up inside, looking starry eyed as he gazed upon her. "I love you so much," he said in a gentle whisper, leaning his forehead on hers and shutting his eyes. "So very, very much..."

"Oh, God I love you. More than life itself..." she whispered back. Both of them were very quiet, leaning their heads on each other, eyes closed as if dreaming.


	7. The Rescue

*** The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn't to be sold, reproduced or taken as true. The main characters and most locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. No copyright infringement is intended.***

Part Seven: The Rescue

"It is not always easy to love thy enemies."

The last Friday in December before the Christmas Holidays was nothing short of amazing. Apart from being the last Friday of 1976 that they were at Hogwarts, it was also the last Hogsmeade weekend. Students already had difficulty focusing on homework with the holidays coming so soon, but then another distraction emerged that morning.

The four Marauders entered the Great Hall for breakfast, as usual, accompanied by Liz Banks, Jade Yang and of course Lily Evans, who was simply glowing; why no one knew. All seven of them sat down at their usual spot at the Gryffindor table, chatting nonstop about Christmas and the weekend. But each one had something different on their minds, though they each seemed to be talking about the same thing. Remus and Sirius were secretly panicking over what to do with Snape. If he somehow did succeed, James would kill Snape then himself. There was no doubt in their minds. James was thinking about Lily, as she was of him. Peter was feeling sorry for himself; he had to go home to his family, all of them, his cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and other people he hates. Liz was also thinking about the potion that Snape was planning on brewing, but Jade was thinking of something else. But that's for another chapter.

Lily actually wasn't listening to anything anyone was saying, but staring at the gold spoon in front of her. It was the same spoon as yesterday, but something was different about it. Something she couldn't put her finger on yet it was most definitely different. She picked it up and held it in front of her. She continued to stare at it, but nothing seemed to happen. She cocked her head slightly to the left and the _spoon_ bent left. She straitened up and looked at the spoon in amazement. She moved her head to the right and the spoon bent right. She seemed to have control over the movement of the spoon but she had no idea how she was able to do so. She gripped it tightly and pulled it closer to her. Then she tried something different other than just tilting her head. She wanted to spiral to the spoon around, so that it would twist the handle. She wondered how to do that, but did not need to. As soon as she decided that she wanted to spiral the spoon, it did so. 

Slowly, the head of the spoon began to spin counter-clockwise so that the handle began to twist like a noodle. It was a surreal experience; she heard nothing going on around her and everything behind the spoon was blurry. A smile spread across her face as she spun the spoon in the other direction. This is really fun, she thought as she let out a giggle loud enough to get the other's attention. She didn't notice them staring at her.

Sirius had his mouth wide open. A fork full of eggs was inches from his mouth; they remained there as he stared at Lily. The entire Gryffindor table slowly turned to see Lily swirl the spoon around and around. James turned to look at her. "Lily," he said, but she held the spoon as she had before, oblivious to all else.

Then she decided she needed to try something new. She let go of the it. To her surprise it suspended itself in midair.

"How are you doing that?" Jade asked her.

"I don't know," she answered, still focused on the levitating utensil. She stopped spiraling it and began spinning it in circles first slowly then faster until it became a solid, spherical, gold apparatus. She moved it closer to her. She had total control over the it. She cupped her hands and put them under the rapidly spinning spoon.

By this time, the entire school, including the staff table, had their attention on Lily. How am I doing this? she wondered. She didn't even think about it, she just did it. It was as easy as breathing.

No one made a sound in the Great Hall. But since she couldn't hear anyone anyways, she didn't notice. She kept staring at the circular gold blur, spinning faster each second, when Liz began talking to her from across the table.

"Your eyes," she said in a shocked tone. The rest of them tried to get a glance at them but had to go around the table to see for themselves. Her eyes did look different; they had a misty glow to them.

"That's a bit creepy," Sirius said. It was the first time he had spoken.

"Can you turn it the other way?" James asked curiously, clearly not thinking it was creepy but rather cool.

"Yes," she said with an excited smile. And the spoon suddenly stopped and started to spin the other way, first slowly then getting faster by the second until it was a golden blur.

"That is amazing, Lily," James said.

Remus got up and sat on the other side of her putting his hand over the spinning spoon. "I can feel the wind it's putting off," he said with awe.

"Like a propeller," Lily said, looking at him.

"A what?" he asked confused.

"Never mind," she said quickly. Sirius moved closer to feel the wind too, as did Liz and Jade.

"Wow!" they said. Funny how simple things controlled by the magical mind can easily entertain the brightest students in the school. 

"Hey," James interrupted, "you've all had your chances! Let me try." The others moved their hands out of the way to let him have a go. But something completely different happened for him.

He placed his right hand over her cupped ones holding the levitating and rapidly gyrating spoon, but he did not feel air coming off the top. The moment his hand was in position a bright, yellow light erupted, turning the spoon into a beautiful golden sphere; looking almost like a shimmering golden globe but was absent of the look of solidity.

"What did you do?" Lily turned and asked him.

"Nothing. I touched the top," he said, astounded by the sight in front of him.

"Take your hand off," she commanded. He tried to remove his hand, but he couldn't.

"I can't," he said through gritted teeth.

"This is very weird," she said looking closer at the golden orb glowing inside their three hands. "Put your other hand over it and see what happens," she said. 

James did; the light got brighter and warm inside. But for only a few seconds. Then the light expanded and James's hands flew off.

A spoon no longer revolved in her hands. Instead a small, blue bird lay quiet and warm, breathing gently in the groove made by her two cupped hands. The bird raised it's tiny head and looked in her eyes. 

"Oh my goodness," she said lightly, stroking his small head and smiling. James drew nearer to look; he wasn't the only one. Professors McGonagall, Wicks, Flitwick and Dumbledore all came over and stood across from her, astonished looks on their faces. Slytherins and Ravenclaws could be seen standing on their chairs and looking over at the Gryffindor table. The Hufflepuffs behind them all got up and crowded around Lily and James, who were the obvious center of attention.

"James," Dumbledore said, "what happened?" James had never seen him look so puzzled before.

"I don't know, sir," he answered him, then looking back at Lily and the small bird in her hand. The bird spread his small wings and flew off, circling the Great Hall like the owls did every morning.

"Miss Evans," McGonagall said, "try it again."

Lily picked up a spoon, as she had done before, and placed it her hand. She stared and thought of spinning it. And, like it did before, the spoon started rotating slowly then got faster, 'til it too was a gold blur.

"Mr. Potter," she said to him, "do what you did before."

As instructed, James placed both of his hands over hers to hold the revolving spoon. A golden orb formed and bright golden beams shot out. This time, however, probably because he didn't put one hand on at a time, a bird shot out and flew along side the other. This one was red.

"Amazing," Dumbledore said as the morning bell rang loudly through the hall. "Miss Evans, what is your first class today?"

"Arithmancy," she answered, a little curious as to why he asked, but she didn't have to wait long.

"Why don't you come up to my office and discuss this newly acquired skill," he said with a warm smile.

"What about me?" James asked trying very hard to get out of Divination.

"Sorry James, but you will need to go to class. If we need your expertise you will be notified." He went over to where Lily was sitting and graciously gave her his hand to help her up. She smirked sinisterly at James as she rose and walked with Dumbledore out of the Great Hall.

"She gets to miss class!" James said to his friends. "She gets to miss class while we have to go to the psycho woman!" he said as he still sat there in awe watching everyone else go to class.

"James, just get up," Remus said, pulling him up by the back of his robes.

"You don't want her to leave you for a few hours," Sirius said not faked out for a second by his behavior. "She'll be back. Let's go to Divination."  


"Miss Evans," Dumbledore said once they entered his office, "please sit down," he instructed pointing to a chair near his desk. She sat and he sat across from her.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked, nervously twisting her hands in her lap. She had never been in a teachers office before, except back in September with Professor McGonagall.

"No, nothing at all," he reassured her. "It's simply that I have never seen any young witch or wizard have so much control over magic without the use of a wand. Is this the first time you have done this kind of magic?"

"Yes," she said. "I picked up the spoon, stared at it, and it started to twist and whirl. I have no idea how I did it."

Dumbledore folded his hands on his desk. "You have always been one of Hogwarts best students, you do know that?" he asked kindly.

She smiled coyly, which meant 'yes' but without saying it. "Do you know why I can do it?" she asked.

"Has anything happened to you since yesterday morning and today which might have effected you?"

"What do you mean?" she asked. She did know, however, what he was talking about.

"An emotional trigger such as losing a friend or family member. Maybe not so traumatic. Perhaps happiness..." he said under his breath, his blue eyes sparkling.

Lily could feel the temperature rising in her cheeks; she smiled shyly. But she remained silent; she intended on keeping it to herself.

Dumbledore chuckled. She could tell he knew, but he was kind enough not to mention it to anyone. "Not very many people have that, Miss Evans. Keep that in mind," he said, losing the laughter and substituting it with seriousness. "Love can bring you great power, as you have demonstrated, but also great pain, not just to you, but to the object of your love. Never forget that." And she didn't. She would always remember those words of wisdom. She carried them with her forever."Now," he said again, having gotten the lecture out of the way, "let's see what kind of great magic you can do."

* * * * *

"Nice of Trelawny to lay off of me before the Christmas holidays," Sirius said as they were descending the long staircases back to the Great Hall. "Imagine: 'When Jupiter and Venus form a line, it means that you're going to choke on your Yorkshire pudding'" Sirius said in a very good impression of Trelawny's airy voice. "The woman is a nightmare."

"Tomorrow's the last night of '76 that we risk our lives and the lives of others," Remus said thoughtfully.

"We are going out, aren't we?" Peter asked.

"I don't see why not," Sirius said. "We should try to go deeper into the forest, as no one important is visiting the village tomorrow night, at least I don't think so."

"I think the teachers will be going to the village," Peter said. "Maybe they'll discuss students."

"I never really cared for teacher gossip," Remus replied.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "It's just boring gibber jabber about Susie Smarty, who's going where, and how thankful they all are that we're out of their hair for two weeks."

"James, what do you think about tomorrow?" But James didn't respond right away, and when he did it wasn't about the following night. 

"How do you think she did that with the spoon?" he asked them; a puzzled look all over his face. "I mean, she just picked it up and," he did a rotating hand motion. "And then the bird thing. How did that happen?"

"You didn't listen to anything that Trelawny or the rest of us said, did you?" Remus asked him.

"I don't get it," he replied, completely ignoring what Remus said. "How can anyone have that much control with out a wand?"

"James," Sirius said, "James just relax. I'm sure that if she knows how she is doing this, then she'll tell you. But she might not know how, so just relax."

"Yeah but it was so amazing," he said with a dazzled look of thoughtfulness.

"Did you tell her last night, James?" Remus asked, curious as to whether or not he went through with it.

"Yes," he said, looking at the rest of them with question and concern. "Yes I did, but she won't tell a soul. I know she won't."

"I know she won't either," Sirius told them. "She's very trustworthy. James, I think you did the right thing."

"I know I did," he smiled pleasantly. "I was actually surprised with how well she took it, you know? I thought she would've rolled her eyes the entire time telling me how horrible I behave, but I think she liked it." 

"What do you mean?" Remus asked. 

"I showed her."

"In the common room? A bit risky isn't it?"

"Well worth it, Remus. It was well worth it."

When they entered the Great Hall, James noticed that Lily wasn't there. Perhaps she was still with Dumbledore learning how to master her gift. Liz and Jade were though, giggling at the moment. They stopped suddenly when James and Sirius came and sat next to them. 

"What's so funny?" James asked.

"Nothing," Jade responded as if it was a totally random question to ask. But she started to giggle again when Liz looked at her and winked.

"Girls," Sirius said to James, who nodded.

"Hello there," Lily said loudly as she came almost running to them with a broad smile. "Hello my love," she said to James as she came behind him, leaned down and kissed him on the cheek just before rushing over to Liz and Jade.

"What did you do with Dumbledore, Lily?" James asked. 

"Would you rather hear about it, or would you like me to show you what I can do?"

"Lets' see," James said, with Liz and Jade nodding in agreement.

She looked around the room first, then stood up. "You see that hat over there?" she said to them pointing to a hat on the Slytherin table.

"Yeah," they all said.

"Watch and learn." She put out her right hand and summoned the hat over to her, which it did in a heart beat. Then, before they could say anything, she laid it in her hand and instantly the hat flew over to it's original place of residence.

"How did you do that?" Jade asked. Instead of saying anything, she sat down and put her hand out; the pepper shaker flew into her hand. 

"Lily," James said, "tell us how you did that."

She shook her head saying, "Magicians never reveal their secrets."

"What?" Sirius asked. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not going to reveal my secrets, Sirius, that's what I mean," she said smartly, looking very pleased with herself. James leaned over, put his arm around her waist, and whispered in her ear.

"Are you going to tell me later?"

She turned to face him, pulled him closer and kissed him. "No," she said sensually, her lips just centimeters away from his. "No, I'm not going to tell you."

"Why not?" he whispered quietly. "I thought we don't keep secrets from each other. Remember what you said about friends and lovers?" He smiled slightly and kissed her ever so gently.

"I have a request," Sirius said abruptly. Lily and James slowly looked towards him. "It's not that I don't think you two are great together, it's just that I want to eat my lunch, and I can't with you two snogging."

"Look the other way then," James said to him, then faced Lily again.

Sirius looked at Remus with horror. Remus looked back at him with desperation. They had to do something about Snape, but what?

"What are we going to do?" Remus mouthed to Sirius.

"I don't know," he mouthed back, shaking his head slightly.

* * * * *

Saturday morning came rather quickly as the Hogsmeade weekend began. Most students from year three and up journeyed down to the village for some Christmas shopping and some good, clean fun with friends.

It was also going to be a full moon that night, one that would be the most memorable of all. Remus was glad that he wouldn't be a werewolf for Christmas, but he was a little disappointed that he and his friends would only have one night of exploring instead of a few, like it usually was. But Hogsmeade helped to ease his mind a bit. The butterbeer and the curvy Madam Rosmerta took his mind off of everything. 

Lily was glad she was traveling to Bermuda for Christmas, but not too thrilled that her sister would also be joining her. She stopped herself many times when talking about her; she didn't want to say anything out of place. They all knew that one day she would let something slip.

James and Sirius were glad that they lived on the same street. When their parents would start nagging them about the trouble they get into, they could both escape and talk to each other.

Near the afternoon on Saturday, the seven friends started to disperse. Remus went back to the castle to get some sleep (he would be up all night), Liz and Jade went for a walk through the village, giggling and sniggering about some secret; James and Lily went somewhere where they could be alone. The destination was not disclosed, leaving Sirius and Peter by themselves.

They both decided to go over and talk to a group of lively girls, when something else interested them far more. Severus Snape and Douglas Lacy were walking north towards some shops on the other side of the village. They were so keen on getting to their location that neither one of them noticed Peter and Sirius.

Peter made a quick glance at Sirius, who nodded. They followed Snape. They had only walked a few paces when Snape started to turn around. Sirius shoved Peter into an alleyway just before Snape went full circle. He didn't see them.

"That was close," Peter said, looking around the corner to see Snapes back. "Should we keep following him?" he asked.

"Yes. I would like to know where he is going," he mumbled. "I'm going to transform and follow behind him; see what shop he goes into. Watch me. I want you to transform and follow behind me, but not too close or it will look suspicious, got it?"

"Got it," he said, and the next second he was Wormtail. Sirius transformed just after him.

Looking like a friendly stray, Padfoot trotted out of the alleyway and began following Snape. It was very cold, he thought. The snow on his feet wasn't a the greatest feeling in the world. He looked behind him to see a rat twenty feet behind him, scampering under newspapers and trash cans.

Snape kept walking, looking behind him every once in a while to make sure no one was tailing him. Then he slipped into a floral shop which only sparked Padfoot's interest. He went across the street and sat down, signaling for Wormtail to enter the shop.

Wormtail slipped in through the crack in the door and ran along the wall. He hid under a table on the far side of the shop and listened very closely to what Snape asked the clerk.

"I need 3 red tulips and one red rose," Snape told the clerk. Three red tulips and one red rose, Wormtail thought, locking it tight into his memory. 

"That'll be 4 Knuts," the clerk said, giving Snape his order. Snape gave him the money and put the flowers gently inside his cloak pocket before leaving. Wormtail scurried back along the wall and out of the shop, continuing to follow Snape.

Once out, he looked across the street and saw that Padfoot was no longer just sitting but in hot pursuit of Snape's trail. Snape still looked a little dodgy; eyeing people suspiciously as they walked by.

Padfoot and Wormtail continued to follow Snape toward the far edge of the village, where he went into a potions shop. Things were starting to go in the direction that Sirius thought they were going to go. This was just too important to miss, he thought. He went into another alleyway, transformed back into his human form, and entered the shop just after Snape. Sirius went quietly to the back of the shop and looked at some potion ingredients along the wall; Snape didn't notice him. 

"I need 14 lacewing flies," Snape said to the grungy looking fellow behind the counter, taking out a list, "and 3 newts eyes. Along with wolfsbane and sleeping drought. Just the basic stuff, not too strong."

Sirius was having great difficulty restraining himself. He wanted nothing more than to deck him but thought better of it. He could hear Snape putting his materials in his cloak and taking out his money pouch to pay the man behind the counter. Shortly after, he left the shop, the bell ringing as he pushed the door open.

Sirius had heard enough. Snape was planning on making the potion and he was going to do it shortly. He saw Peter was standing outside the shop looking in on him. Sirius left and started to walk with Peter back towards Hogwarts.

"He bought three red tulips and one red rose, Sirius. What does that mean?" Peter inquired. Sirius looked forward not saying a word. What was he going to do, and how was he going to do it without getting caught in the process?

"Sirius," Peter asked again, "what is all of this about?"

"Snape is trying to--" only he didn't want to say what. "He's snooping around, Peter. Trying to interfere in our...plans."

"What are we going to do?" Peter asked. Sirius thought silently for a while as they walked back towards Hogwarts. He had to tell Lupin while he still could. That's when it hit him. Lupin. 

"We need to tell Snape how to get into the Whomping Willow," Sirius said abruptly. Peter looked shocked.

"What? Are you crazy?" he asked.

"C'mon Peter," Sirius said in an innocent tone. "He's been trying to find out what we've been up to for a long time now. It's only a joke," but Peter didn't look convinced.

"Remus would kill him," Peter said.

"And who would that harm? Look Peter, I for one am tired of him always being there and prying into our lives. Lets just tell him without telling him how to get into the Willow, alright?" He couldn't tell him the truth. It was enough that he, Remus, and Liz knew. Peter didn't need to know.

"Fine," he said. "How are we going to pull it off?"

"Well, he's going into the Three Broomsticks," he said pointing to Snape opening the door, "so we can have a conversation at the table in the back. Follow my lead."

Peter and Sirius went into the Three Broomsticks, knowing full well that Snape and Douglas were both there yet they did not look for them. They wanted to make sure he didn't suspect anything. Sirius and Peter automatically went to the table in the far corner, passing an unaware Snape who was ordering at the bar. 

"Alright," Sirius said quietly to Peter as they sat down at their table, "try to look suspicious and improvise."

Peter leaned in closer to Sirius and started whispering nonsense which seemed to work rather well. In the reflection of a glass Sirius saw Snape and Lacy sat at the table in ear range.

"Peter," Sirius said in a soft tone he knew Snape would be able to hear, "we have to go out tonight and come back here. No one can to know."

He saw Snape signal Douglas to be quiet; they were honing in on their conversation.

"How are we all supposed to get out of the castle and into the village without being seen?" Peter asked.

"I know how to get out of the castle, Peter. You cannot tell a soul."

"I won't, I promise," he said leaning closer to Sirius.

"The Whomping Willow. That's how to get out." In the reflection, Sirius could see an evil grin passing over Snape's face.

"But the Willow's branches, how do I get past them?"

"You see, Peter, that is the best part," he said smiling sinisterly. "I just found out today. There's a knot on the side of the tree clearly visible. All you have to do is to take a long stick, prod it, and the branches stop moving. Then go to the opening in mouth of the tree and follow the tunnel."

"That's all?" he asked.

"It's as simple as that. No one has gone down there before. I need for you to get there at nine o'clock. Make sure that it's clear before the rest of us get there."

"Who else is going, Sirius?"

"Oh you know. Remus and the rest of the gang. We'll be living large. But be very careful; no one is to know."

"Understood," Peter said winking to him. 

Sirius saw Snape and Lacy get up and exit the Three Broomsticks very silently.

"Mission accomplished," Sirius said, winking maliciously to a very satisfied Peter.

* * * * *

Remus had slept for quite a while. He awoke at eight in the evening, saw that no one else was in the dorm room, and headed down to the common room. It looked as though most of the Gryffindors were down in the Great Hall having dinner, because not many were inside Gryffindor tower. Those who were there were packing for the journey home the next day. 

He decided to go down for a quick bite, very quick, then head out with Professor McGonagall to the Whomping Willow. The full moon would not come over the rise tonight until nine, so he had very little time. 

Once in the Hall, he noticed that Sirius and James were discussing something or other, and Peter was listening quietly. He went over and sat next to Peter, across from the other two, who as it turned out, were planning their vacation and the nasty tricks they were going to play on the neighbors.

"Good morning sunshine," Sirius said to him. "Sleep well?"

"Very well, thank you. I feel like I could take on the world," he responded.

"You know of course, Remus," James began, "that we won't be able to get out very early. Due to the fact that most students will be up very late, it will be hard for the three of us to sneak out earlier than twelve. Things should die down by then."

"I understand. I will be in the main living room awaiting the signal."

"What time do you go down?" James asked. Sirius and Peter gave each other funny glances.

"I'll head over at 8:55, giving us just the right time. It takes no time in getting there. McGonagall will be waiting in the Hall as usual."

James nodded his head and took a sip of tea; he too had to stay awake. 

"Are you going to wait in the living room from then on?" Sirius asked, hoping the answer was yes.

"Indeed," Remus said. "There is really no where else to go in the house. I mean, I've already slept." Remus helped himself to a large steak, and some potatoes; monitoring the time closely. "So," he said to James and Sirius, "what do you two have planned so far?"

The two of them exchanged evil grins. 

"C'mon," he said, "cough it up."

"Well," Sirius began, "there is this really annoying girl that lives on our street. She plays some kind of musical instrument. We were just discussing how fun it would be to mess with it a bit so the sound that comes out of it isn't what she expects."

"You do remember that use of magic on holidays will result in expulsion?" Remus asked them.

"Now that's a little fuzzy," James said. "They give us notes telling us not to use magic over the summer holidays but not Christmas.... so technically we can do magic."

"Don't you think that's bending the rules a bit far?" he asked.

"Oh come off it," Sirius said to him. "Learn to have a little fun. We're not going to get caught. That's the beauty of it all."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"That's just what we were discussing when you came into the room," James replied.

"I see," he said, "sorry to have interrupted you, please continue." Remus continued with his meal but James and Sirius stop talking about their plans, and instead discussed some girls in Ravenclaw that Sirius thought were somewhat interesting.

Nine came closer than Remus had anticipated; he left the table at five till. Sirius and James escorted him to the entrance hall.

"You know," Sirius said to him, "you should come up and stay a couple of days. It would be a lot of fun."

James nodded his head and smiled. "You really should," James said to him.

"Maybe. I'll have to see what the family has in store. In the meantime," he said walking towards the smiling Professor McGonagall, "I'll see you two in the morning on the train." He waved goodbye and walked off for the large double doors with Professor McGonagall.

James and Sirius headed for Gryffindor tower when Sirius said he had to stop off in the Library for a short while.

"You go on ahead. I don't need you to escort me," Sirius said with a smile as he went towards the library. "I should be back shortly. I only have to check something real quick. Go kiss your girlfriend or something."

"Count on it," James said laughing slightly. He went to the tower. Sirius waited until James was out of sight, then headed for the secret tunnel that would lead him out of the school.

Once James had opened the Portrait door, he found the common room quite busy with people of all years preparing for the Christmas Holiday. Peter was sitting alone reading by the window; Lily and Jade were whispering and giggling in the far corner, looking as though they didn't want to be disturbed. James started towards Peter, who looked up as he sat down next to him.

"Vacation will be good, won't it Peter?" he asked.

"Yes," he said with a note of the jitters in his voice. "Yes it will be nice."

"What are you reading?" he asked. Peter didn't read for pleasure very often, so it was out of the ordinary to see him reading on a Saturday night before they all left for vacation.

"Oh it's just a book of spells. Stuff that should be useful in the future, you know." Peter avoided his eyes and looked out the window.

James found his behavior to be suspicious, so he too looked out the window and saw something that made his stomach lurch.

"What is Snape doing walking towards the Willow?" he asked quietly to himself.

"It's a joke," Peter said to him confused, thinking that James would know exactly why Snape was going down.

"A joke?" James asked giving Peter a piercing stare. "What are you talking about?"

"I thought Sirius told you," he said.

"Told me what?" he asked, standing up straight, taking his focus off of Snape and giving it to Peter.

"We kind of told him how to get into the willow but with out telling him."

"You what?!" James said surprised, but being careful not to attract the others attention. "Why did you do that?"

"Sirius thought it would be funny," Peter explained with a small grin on his chubby face.

"Remus will kill him. I have to go," he said turning to leave.

"James," Peter said, getting up and pulling on his arm, "He'll kill you too if he sees you. So what if Snape dies, no one likes him."

James looked at Peter stunned. He couldn't believe what was happening. He pulled away without saying a word, and rushed for the portrait door. The room was so busy that no one realized he had entered or left.

James ran as fast as he could for the tunnel behind the suit of armor. He couldn't believe Sirius would do such a thing and not tell him. They all hated Snape, but killing him was only a joke; he never thought that anyone would take it seriously. Once he reached the entrance, he slipped inside, and sprinted down the tunnel. He shoved the wall open, and ran into the moon bathed night for the Willow. Snape couldn't be seen. The Willows branches started to move again.

Snape, himself, was walking down the long and dark tunnel, his wand lit above his head illuminating the passage ahead of him. An evil grin caressed his face. He was going to catch them. This time he was going to win. James would be expelled and his life would become much easier. He felt like he had been walking for quite some time down this passage. The end had to be here somewhere, he thought. He could clearly hear movement coming from what seemed like ahead and behind. It must be the acoustics of the tunnel, he thought.

It took a while for James to get into the tree. He had to through a large rock on the knot to stop the branches from flailing about. Once he did, he jumped inside, and ran down the tunnel, hoping, praying that he would find Snape before Lupin did. Sweat was dripping down his face in large beads.

"Snape!" he called, but there was no response.

Snape heard it. He turned around yet saw no one. Maybe he just imagined it. He walked faster for the end of the tunnel just in case. He couldn't really see an opening, just a small hole; moonlight was pouring out of it. As he got closer he could hear movement coming from the end of the tunnel. He slowly walked forward; he didn't want to be heard.

James could see a yellow light glowing just ahead of him; he tried to run faster. "Snape?" he called out but there was still no response.

Snape turned around. He definitely heard James this time. It sounded as though he was right behind him. But tunnel's opening was yards away now. Potter wasn't going to stop him from seeing what was at the other end.

James turned the last corner, breathing heavily and saw that Snape was climbing the last small incline to pop his head into the living room of the Shrieking Shack.

"Snape, stop!" he said, not moving himself. Snape turned around casually and looked at him with disgust.

"What Potter? Afraid I will discover your secrets?"

"Snape, you cannot go in there. You have to listen to me," he said.

"And why is that?" Snape asked with his usual drawl. "Why should I listen or trust you, Potter?"

"If you don't come down, I will force you to. Understand?" he replied sternly.

"Is that a threat?" he said, inching forward slowly.

"Just come down! Please!"

"No!" Snape lunged forward, putting his hands into the shack to pull himself in. James took action. He went for Snape legs and pulled him down, knocking the both of them to the ground. He tried to hold on to Snape, but Snape also used extreme force. He turned on him and punched him dead in the face. He hit so hard that James's head hit the hard stone floor with a loud thud. But that did not stop him. Both of them seemed to have forgotten that they had magic wands, fist fighting was the substitute. Snape went for the tunnel again, but James got up and pulled him back.

"You can't go up there," James yelled at him. Snape wheeled around again, this time striking James hard in the stomach, and jabbed him across the jaw.

James wasn't going to lie down and take it. He tackled Snape and brought him to the ground, hitting his face, something he had wanted to do for a long time. But Snape also contained a lot of rage and jealousy towards James. Not to mention he was a little more motivated on seeing what was in that room that James didn't want him to see.

Snape pushed James off of him, slamming him into the tunnel wall. He hit him in the nose this time, snapping the nose piece of his glasses which fell to the floor. Snape didn't stop there; he held James with his left hand and pummeled him with his right until his face was full of blood. James tried to regain control but could hardly see. His lip and nose were bleeding and Snape continued thrashing him.

Finally, Snape threw James to the floor. His puffy-eyed, bruised and bloodied self lay there with little movement. Snape walked up the shallow incline, nearing his goal each second. Then, the moonlight shone on his face as he looked into a very battered room. Furniture was torn and scattered all about the filthy room; it looked like the inside of a haunted mansion. Snape walked further, so that his entire torso was inside. Then something horrifying met his eyes.

A fully grown werewolf was starting at him, clearly startled to see Snape inside his living room. The werewolf growled loudly, saliva dripping from his visible long, sharp, white fangs. He was moving slowly toward him from far across the room, gaining speed as he came nearer. 

Snape couldn't move out of fear. The hackles of the wolf raised and he started growling more viciously. Snape wanted to move but was frozen.

James could hear Lupin growling from up above him. He pushed himself off of the floor and groped for his glasses; blood falling from his face and splattering on the ground. He grabbed his glasses, which he held to his face with both hands to see that Snape's legs were still visible. James stood up and went for him. He grabbed his legs and pulled him down, this time without resistance.

Snape had a shocked and dazed expression on his face. When he looked up into James's eyes he didn't say a single word. James laid him down on the floor then went up the tunnel to find Lupin charging the entrance. James looked up and saw a wooden foundation beam just above his head. He grabbed onto it with both hands, glasses falling down to the ground, and swung his legs so that when Lupin started to come through the aperture, James swung himself and hit him directly in his chest, sending him howling ten feet backwards, where he lay stunned....but not for long.

James jumped down, grabbed his broken glasses in one hand, and took the traumatized Snape in the other, lifting him off the ground and dragging him through the tunnel.

"Move!" James yelled at him. Snape started to run but James ran faster, pulling Snape behind him. He could hear Remus running behind them, gaining on them.

"You have to run faster, Snape. He's going to catch us!" Snape seemed to understand; he had picked up the pace a bit. James could see the other end of the tunnel up ahead. He looked back to see Lupin running with teeth barred ready for the attack.

James pushed Snape through the passage first, then followed. Once inside the hollow of the tree, he moved the large stone in front of the opening just as Remus reached it. The stone made a large thud as it fit into place.

James leaned his back on the large stone, closing his swollen eyes, and breathing heavily. Snape slumped down on the other end of the passage, also breathing heavily; his clutching his chest.

"You foolish bastard," James said to Snape, who had come out of his trauma. "Didn't I tell you not to go in there?"

"I didn't know there was a full grown werewolf inside," Snape said, looking sternly at James. 

"That's because no one is supposed to know," said a voice coming from the entrance of the Willow. James held his broken glasses to his nose and opened his eyes to see a very disgruntled McGonagall standing a few yards from him.


	8. Warnings and Wanderings

***The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. This story was written for enjoyment only. This story isn't to be duplicated, sold, or passed off as your own. Characters and locations belong to J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.***

Part Eight: Warnings and Wanderings

"The truth can kill but a lie can destroy"

Snape and James both found themselves in the office of Albus Dumbledore moments later. Professor McGonagall and Professor Chambers were also there; Chambers was head of Slytherin house. James and Snape sat in two chairs opposite of Dumbledore's desk. Across from them were the three professors, all of whom looked livid and disappointed. For a long while there was silent staring. Then Dumbledore spoke.

"Professor McGonagall has told me that she saw you, James, heading for the Whomping Willow. At that time she went down to see what you were doing, for she knew you were out of your common room and in grave danger. But then something else occurred; she saw Severus with you. Now, I can guess by the looks of you both, what went on down there. But I don't know why you went to Whomping Willow or how you learned it's entrance, Severus. Why don't you fill us in." Once he finished, the three professors turned to Snape.

"I over heard Sirius Black telling Peter Pettigrew how to get into the tunnel. It sounded as though they were planning something. I just..." he didn't finish.

"You over heard?" McGonagall said skeptically, her eyebrows raised very high. "Does that justify going out into the night, slipping down a top secret passageway, and nearly being killed by a werewolf?"

Snape didn't respond. He looked down into his open hands which sat on his lap. James had an ice pack on his right eye; it was starting to swell. His other hand was wiping blood off his face.

Professor Chambers was stroking his black mustache pensively, eyeing the two students sitting in the chairs. Dumbledore was staring at James, who was trying not to look at anyone for the moment.

"Am I going to be expelled?" Snape asked. Chambers looked at Dumbledore with great concern.

"You and Mr. Potter have been fighting constantly since your arrival at this school," Dumbledore said to him. "The behavior I have seen exchanged between the two of you is not only childish, but embarrassing. I don't know why you act this way, I never have. I would venture to say that you two don't know why you hate each other."

That was wrong, the both of them thought. They knew why they hated each other; they had different reasons, sure, but they knew why.

Dumbledore continued. "What is clear, however, is what happened this evening. I think I know how this unfolded. James," he said looking to him, "tell us what happened."

"Well Professor," he started, wiping blood from his lip, "I was in the Gryffindor common room talking to Peter, when I looked outside and saw Snape heading for the Willow. I know, of course, that Remus is a werewolf so I therefore know how to open the entrance to the Willow." He cast a sideways glance at McGonagall. "But when I saw Snape heading for it, I knew he was in danger. I left the common room and ran down to try to stop him." He thought it best to leave his conversation with Peter out, though he couldn't help but think of what Sirius was doing, and the things he was going to say to him.

"You risked your own life to save Mr. Snapes'," said Dumbledore, his eyes a sparkle. "As I suspected."

Snape looked green. His eyes were maleviolent; his lips then and pulled downwards. 

"No," Dumbledore said, turning his attention back to Snape, "you will not be expelled. However, one hundred and fifty points will be taken from Slytherin and you will be serving detention for three weeks upon your return from the holidays. I want you to also remember, Severus, that James has saved your life; you are in his debt." He looked to Professor Chambers, who most likely irritated at having one hundred and fifty points deducted, but under the circumstances he couldn't argue.

"James, for you pure nerve and bravery, two hundred points will be added to Gryffindor. I have never had a student who risked his life for his enemy. I commend you." He nodded his head in approval. James smiled slightly. Snape clenched his fists and ground his teeth.

"Now, if you please," Dumbledore said to McGonagall, who was smiling at James, Chambers and Snape, "if you could leave James and I alone. I would like to have a word with him."

They departed, Snape scuffing the floor with his boots, leaving James and Professor Dumbledore alone. 

"I see that Severus is quite the fighter," Dumbledore noted, pointing at James's face. "It must not have occurred to him to use the full body bind."

"Apparently not," James replied. He couldn't help but think of Sirius. Why did he do it? Why didn't he tell him he was planning this?

"Do you need to see the nurse, James?"

"No," he said, moving the ice from his swollen eyes to his jaw. "Well, maybe. She overreacts. She'll probably have me in there for three days, ministering to me."

Dumbledore chuckled. "How are you, I mean other than the current circumstance?"

"Fine, really. Ready for a vacation."

"I know what you mean, I haven't had a vacation in many years. I hear that the young Miss Evans will be traveling to Bermuda," he said smiling.

James smiled. "Yeah, nice warm Bermuda. Far away without me."

"Worried are we?" he asked.

"No, just don't trust other people. What kind of people live in Bermuda anyway?" At that moment, Madam Pomfrey came into the room and rushed over to James.

"What happened to you this time?" she asked, taking out a clean white cloth and gently wiping his face.

"I tried saving someone," he said, a little perturbed with her touching him so much. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"This helps close the cuts, you see," she said handing him a small mirror which she drew from her pocket. He looked into it and saw that his nose and lip had stopped bleeding. He still had quite a bruise on his jaw and his left eye was almost purple; the right not so bad.

"What about everything else?" he asked her. 

"Well, I'm afraid that your own bodily defenses will have to deal with those. Swelling is hard to manage." She threw away the cloth and exited the office.

"Let me see your glasses," Dumbledore said to him. James him the pieces. Dumbledore took out his wand, placed the glasses upon the desk, and murmured, "Oculos Reparo." They were as good as new.

"Thanks," James said, taking them back and placing them on his nose. He stood, still thinking of what to do, and started to leave. "I have to be going sir. Packing, you know," he lied.

"Of course. Don't get into too much trouble over the holidays. Tell your mother and father I said hello."

"I will, sir."

"Happy Christmas, James," he said with a warm smile.

"Happy Christmas," James replied. He turned and left the office, walked down the spiral staircase, and entered the main corridor. The entrance to Dumbledore's office closed softly behind him. 

It was getting late. James looked at his watch and realized he had spent more than an hour with the Snape predicament. It was now ten. The library would surely be closed, so Sirius must be back in Gryffindor tower.

He turned in the right direction and walked briskly. It seemed like an eternity before he reached the portrait of the fat lady, but when he did, he was shaking with fury. He entered and saw that only fifteen students remained in the common room, which was unusual; it was very early. He looked around, but didn't see Sirius or Peter. 

"James!" Jade Yang said to him, getting up from the couch and running over to see him. "What happened to you?"

"Long story. Have you seen Sirius?" he said quickly.

"Yeah, he came back in here a half hour ago looking for you, then left."

"Did he say where he was going?"

"No," she said putting her hand on his chin, trying to get a better angle on his face. "James, what happened to you?"

"I really can't explain right now. I need to find Sirius." He removed her hand from his face, turned, and left the common room. He searched the library, the bathrooms, offices, classrooms, and the secret passages, but didn't find Sirius. When he was done scouring, the castle he headed back to the tower.

"Oooh, what is the nasty Potter up to?" It was Peeves the Poltergeist.

"Get out of my way Peeves, or I'll have the Bloody Baron after you."

"Think you can scare me? Should not threaten me, should you? Students aren't aloud out of bed," he said in his sing songy voice. James did want to go to the tower, but Peeves was in his way.

"If you don't move," James warned, raising a finger, "I'll make sure Dumbledore knows that the one who smashed the priceless vase he adores so much, was you."

Peeves dropped his evil grin and flew off cursing. James ran up the stairs and along the corridor to the tower.

"Back again?" The fat lady asked.

"Yes. Dragons's hide." The portrait door swung open. James entered. The common room was completely deserted now. James strolled inside and started for the stairs when he heard:

"Why did you stop him?" It most certainly the voice of Sirius Black. James hadn't seen him upon entering. James turned around to face the voice of his friend. Sirius was sitting in the dark in the far corner of the room. James walked towards him, indignation surging through his veins. He could never quite remember being angry with Sirius. But he was passed angry, he was livid.

"What the hell were you thinking trying to get him killed? I could have been killed!"

"Everything was going to work out fine if you didn't have to go play hero!" Sirius yelled. He drew out his wand and waved it above his head, saying "Silenrium," making the room sound proof.

"Sirius," James yelled even louder, "you told him how to get into the Whomping willow-- "

"I didn't tell him anything!" he shouted back, throwing his wand to the ground. "He eavesdropped on Peter and me. I never told him a thing!"

"Cut it out Sirius! Don't give me that crap! You knew he was listening. Peter told me. Why did you do it? Why did you do it!"

Sirius put his hands on top of his head and turned around so his back was to James.

"Why Sirius? What did he do that made you want him dead?"

Sirius whipped around and seemed shocked. "You have to ask?" He moved closer to James who took steps back. "That fool has been snooping around for the longest time trying to get us expelled. It was the perfect opportunity to kill him once and for all."

"If he was snooping around then why didn't you tell me? Why all the secrecy?"

"I knew you would do something stupid like save his life! Bloody hell, James! Why did you do it?"

"Why did I save him? We all hate him, yes, but we can't decide who should die. It's not our job. How can you be so selfish?" 

"Selfish?" he said, the temperature rising in his face. "If Snape was dead then everything would be fine!"

James didn't understand. Sirius was keeping something from him. He tried to calm down. He stopped yelling; he gazed at Sirius for a while and Sirius gazed back.

"It would have looked like a simple mistake," Sirius said.

"What?"

"His death. If Lupin had killed him, no one would have ever known how he got the information. And if they did, we would be safe; we never told him."

"Sirius, why did you do this?" 

Sirius didn't answer. He turned his back to him and faced the wall.

"I can't tell you," he said quietly.

"Why not? What is all of this about?" he asked.

"James," he said swinging back around. "The reason I didn't tell you was because I wanted it to look like an accident."

"I still don't understand. What did he do?"

Sirius shook his head and folded his arms. "I can't tell you."

"Why the hell not!" he yelled. "What is it? What did he do? You have to tell me!" James clenched his fists and kicked the furniture in the room, but Sirius remained silent.

"Sirius please," he begged, "please tell me. I know you would only do this if Snape did something horrible. He's not trying to interfere with us-- "

"Oh but that's where you're wrong," Sirius said closing his eyes, moving along the wall, using his hand for support.

"You have to give me a clue, Sirius. Help me!" he yelled, but Sirius still had his back to him. "Damn you Sirius. Tell me why you tried to kill a man! Tell me why you kept it a secret! What is this about!"

Sirius pivoted around and raised his index finger. "You want to know James, you want to know what this is about?"

"Yes!"

"Fine. But you have to promise me that you won't go after him yourself! Promise that you won't kill him!"

"Why would I want to kill him. I hate him but I don't want him dead."

"You will," Sirius said, going to a corner and picking up a large red book.

"What is that?" James asked, pointing to the old volume. "All of this is about a book?"

"No," Sirius said. "No, all of this is about you."

"How is it about me? If it was about me then I think I would know about it."

"Wrong again," he said, placing the book on the table and leaning his hands on it. James looked utterly confused.

"Are you ever going to tell me, or are you just going to dance around---"

"It's about her," he said, opening the book.

"Who?" he asked, drawing nearer to him.

"Lily, James. This is all about Lily."

James remained silent for a while. "What does she have to do with this?" he asked, fearing Sirius's answer.

Sirius started flicking through the pages of the book and stopped on a old, browned page. James dropped his head, but could not read it upside down.

"A little while ago, when we were having tea with Hagrid, Remus and Liz found Snape looking at this potion, coping the ingredients. Just this morning, Peter and I followed Snape and witnessed him buying some of the things required for it. He's going to try to make it." Sirius lifted the book, turned it around, and placed it in James's outstretched arms. 

James looked at Sirius, then down at the potion in the book. In old English text, the page read:

_A potion for the broken heart_

_Unsurpassable success is this, intertwined with an unmistakable miss, dancing through the purple mist, cursing at the sky. Wonder, why, how and when, did the goddess of breeze, sing her song, oh so long to the enemy of thee. Witness past, echos missed, saunter for a while; jingle jangle o'er the cliffs, and ponder upon this: differences are so often made, but what of it? Jealousy combined with lust can also equal love? A woman so pure and innocent is seeming for the chase, but once the race is over, and the winner is awarded, there is no points for second best. Or is there? Whoever stated that the race was over? Perhaps one can't be the strongest runner, perhaps you can use your wits. Craftiness and intelligence can win you back the prize. Follow the instructions hence, and watch the time flow by, when actions take their own paths, that lead to his demise. Strike him hard, just and true, watch him as he dies, take the love, belonged to him, and for you she is your prize._

_14 lacewing flies, 3 newts eyes, feather of a song bird, red tulip petals..._

James could not continue to read on. He just stared at the book in his hands; his face hotter than the surface of the sun; his blood boiling.

"I know," Sirius muttered, "that if you were ever to lose her, in any way, you would die. You said so yourself. I have seen they way you are with her James; you're completely blissful. If Snape goes through with this, which he's planning on doing, not only will you lose the woman you love more than life itself, but you will lose her to him."

James looked up at him, slammed the book shut, and threw it on the ground. At that moment, all of the glass in the room shattered, spilling onto the floor. The cold air swept in and rushed past their faces.

"You're right," James said in a spooky calm. "I am going to kill him." James turned around and crunched the glass under his feet as he walked to the staircase.

Sirius ran to him and pulled him back. "No, James," he said holding his shoulder's tightly. "If you kill him you will spend your entire life in Azkaban, dreaming of her, knowing you'll never see her again."

"Sirius, I have to stop him. And if that means killing him, then so be it. I love her so much, Sirius, I can't let him take her from me. I won't let anyone take her from me. If your not going to help me, then let me do it alone."

"NO!" he said shaking him. "You can't kill him, it would have looked like an accident before, but now it would be murder. Promise me you won't kill him and I will help you find him and stop him."

James peered into his brown eyes, anger still burning in his veins. Sirius was holding him in a tight grip; he would have to agree if he wanted him to let go. James looked up the staircase, then back to Sirius, who relaxed.

"All right," James said trying his best to sound calm and sane. "I won't kill him. Not tonight. But if he comes near her, Sirius--"

"I understand," he interrupted. "Just give him a warning. I don't want to see you in prison over him."

James nodded his head and started up stairs, Sirius in tow. They opened the dorm room door quietly, sneaked inside, and opened James's trunk, withdrawing the Marauders's Map. They then ventured back to the common room, and placed the map on the table.

James tapped the map while whispering "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," and the map slowly appeared. "Show me Severus Snape," he commanded, tapping the map again. In an instant a large red dot appeared on the map, with the words "Severus Snape" just above them.

"Myrtle's bathroom," Sirius mumbled. "I hate to think what he is doing there at this moment," he said looking into James's possessed eyes.

Without a word, James left the table and strode to the portrait door. Sirius quickly cleared the map, stuffed it in his pocket, and followed James. He shoved the portrait door open, which slammed on the wall, and quickly turned right for Myrtle's bathroom.

"James, do you want to keep it down a bit? We don't want to wake the entire castle," Sirius whispered.

James just whirled around and gave him a very stern look.

"Hey," Sirius said putting his hands in the air defensively, "I'm on your side, remember?" James ignored him and started for the bathroom again, making loud stomping sounds on the way. 

"Why it's Potter again. Out of bed so soon?" said a singing Peeves, who floated just above James's head.

"Should tell Filch, I should."

"I don't have time for games, Peeves. Please stay out of my way!" he retorted. Peeves laughed loudly and flew upside down, blowing air in James's face. He ignored him and turned the corner, raising his wand as he approached Myrtles bathroom.

"Remember James," Sirius said with a degree of panic, "you're not going to kill him."

"Oooh!" Peeves exclaimed. "Must watch!" James put his hand up.

"Peeves," he said, "you watch this, you keep your lips sealed, understood? Otherwise I'll squeal on you."

"Fair is foul. I'll do it. Slam in the door, he's brewing a potion, he is," Peeves said with a nasty grin.

James did just that. He approached bathroom door so livid that he kicked it in. Sirius and James entered, followed by the much entertained Peeves. The bathroom appeared empty. James went straight to the window, walked around the bathroom sinks, (where he had once taken refuge) then turned to Sirius.

Sirius pointed to the stalls, James nodded his head. He walked over, ducked down to see under the stalls, then stood up straight. He paced to the end of the row, stopped at the last one, and kicked the door in. Inside was an erect Snape who stood in front of a toilet. Inside the toilet's rim was a small, black cauldron, boiling with a clear liquid. James looked around. Various ingredients were spread on the floor including wolfsbane and Lacewing flies. But James got over the scene very quickly. He reached inside the stall and grabbed Snape by his robes. With all the strength in his body, he pulled him out of the stall and shoved him up against the wall. Snape was quaking.

"What the _hell_ are you DOING!" James yelled into his face. Sirius again preformed the silencing spell on the bathroom.

"What are you doing!" James asked again, continuing to knock Snape against the wall.

"Exacting my revenge!" Snape replied, pushing James back. James slugged him hard in the stomach, then in the face. Snape buckled over, arms over his stomach.

"Kick him, Potter, kick him!" Peeves yelled, performing back-flips in the air.

"You bastard!" James yelled, pulling Snape up and striking him again. Sirius came up to James and tried pulling him back. "No, Sirius! Leave me alone!"

Snape was knocked to the ground. James took out his wand. Snape looked up at him, worry on his face, but didn't say a word. James pointed his wand at him, hand was trembling with rage. "I should kill you," he said. Snape said nothing, but stared back at him with a malicious expression as if daring him to do it.

"James, you promised me you wouldn't harm him," Sirius said quietly. "He's not worth it, James. He's just not worth it."

James could hear his heart pounding in his ears, but he didn't kill Snape. He turned his wand and mumbled a spell under his breath. A dark orange streaming light shot out of his wand and stuck the cauldron causing it to explode; pieces of it shattered against the stall walls. Then he turned his wand on the remaining ingredients. They too were shattered and set a flame. James walked back to Snape who was now standing. James pointed his wand at him. "Accio!" he shouted. "Accio!"

A small bottle, the size of a shot glass, flew out of his inner pocket and into James's hands. He examined the contents. Inside the small, clear bottle were several black hairs.

"How the hell did you get these?" James asked.

"I got them tonight, when you fought with me. Isn't it ironic, Potter?" he said, a small evil smile crossing his face. 

James smashed the bottle on the floor and cast his wand with it. He shoved Snape back onto the wall.

"What were you planning on doing?" James asked, inches from Snape's face. "Huh? Were you going to poison her, take away her free will so that you could kill me? Is that what you were planning on doing?" he yelled.

Snape smiled complacently. "Something like that. You don't deserve her."

"And you do?" Sirius piped it. "You think that you have the authority to decide who is good enough for people? Wake up Snape. You're a lost cause."

Snape stared at Sirius, his wicked grin replaced with a frown.

"You're not good enough to walk on the same ground as she does," James told him. "I can understand your frustration, I really can. I have always come out winning; you have always been the loser. But Lily is different."

"Shut your mouth," Snape said pushing James back. 

"No," James said in a dangerously calm voice. James picked up his wand, held it tight in his hand, and raised it like a pointer. "You listen to me and you listen good. It must have killed you, knowing that of all the guys in this school, she chose me. She could've had anyone she liked, but she chose me, your enemy. But the difference is, Snape, that she exercised her own free will. I didn't dangle a potion in her face, such as you want to do.

"And you want to know something else, Snape?" James asked, moving closer to him, wand still raised in a threatening manner. "Above all things that you know about her, how amazing she is, how beautiful and kind she is, know this: She loves me and I love her. And there is nothing you can do to change that. Even if by a miracle of God, you are able to poison her with your love potion, she still chose me out of her free will.

"If I see or hear you come anywhere near her, or if I hear that you talked to her, looked at her in the wrong way, or even discuss her, I will kill you. Do you understand?"

Snape looked amused; hardly effected by the speech. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall in a casual manner, not seemingly intimidated. 

James hated him, he couldn't stand it any longer. He rushed forward and slammed Snape against the wall as hard as he could. Snape made a painful grunt and tried to fight back, but then Sirius joined in.

Sirius pulled James off of Snape, just so that he himself could hold Snape's arms behind his back as James screamed in his face. Sirius was very strong and held the squirming Snape tightly in place.

"Do you understand me?" James yelled at him, his face puce with rage. "So help me God, I will kill you if you do anything to her. I will kill you!" he yelled louder. "I love her more than life itself and if you even try to take her away from me, you will regret you were ever born!"

Snape did something that was very stupid. Looking straight into James eyes, he spat at him.

James closed his eyes and took a few steps backwards, slowly taking the sleeve of his cloak and wiping his face.

Sirius was not so well composed. He turned Snape to face him and decked him in the face, then the stomach; so hard that he fell to the floor wheezing.

"You bastard!" Sirius yelled, now more enraged than James, who just looked at Snape on the floor, a funny smile appearing on his face. 

Sirius looked at James. Snape got up slowly, holding the stall of a toilet for support. "You think this is funny?" Sirius asked James.

"No, it's not funny at all," James replied sniggering.

"Why are you laughing?" 

"You're so pathetic, Severus," James said to him. "So very pathetic. You act as if all of your life problems and issues were caused by me. Well, let me just tell you I am flattered that I have had that much control over you. It's petty, the fights we have. We act as though our families are feuding. How much longer is this going to go on?"

Snape lost all humor; his face lacked emotion. He stood with his hand on a stall, staring ceaselessly into James's eyes.

"I know you're jealous," he continued. "It's not that hard to see. But my accomplishments have nothing to do with you. I have not kept you down, or pushed you down for that matter, to get where I am today. You are just a thorn in my side, a pebble in my shoe, an annoyance that never goes away. But after I leave this school, after I marry Lily and live at my own house with my own family, rest assured I will never think of you again. Unless of course we need something to laugh about."

For a short while, no one said anything. Snape looked down at the floor, Sirius looked at James, James glanced back. Even Peeves, to everyone's surprise, remained unusually quiet, fascinated by the scene he was a witness to.

"It must be hard," Snape said thoughtfully, breaking the silence, "to be so arrogant as you are. To think the entire world is under your influence. You might be able to fool Dumbledore into thinking you're some kind of saint, but I know the real you. Dumbledore, after all, will trust everybody. It is his tragic flaw. But you, Potter, are nothing more than a circus ring leader. Worshiped by your...monkeys and gorillas. You walk around Hogwarts as if you own the place, strutting from class to class, nose high in the air.

"Let me tell you this," Snape said, moving closer to James, who planted himself firmly on the bathroom floor. "You are no better than I am. You think that because you win the Quidditch cup, a prefect badge, and Lily's foolish admiration, that you are superior to everyone else? How wrong you are. I honestly feel sorry for you. What a burden that must be, knowing you are the gift to the world. How do you handle walking the earth with the rest of us mortals? Surely it must be very difficult?"

To Sirius's surprise, James was smiling. Not a genuine smile whose source was happiness, but a condescending smile, one that said all to well, "You are such an idiot."

"Severus," James said laughing softly, putting his hands together and clapping. "What an excellent speech you have made. You certainly amazed me. I had no idea you were so, how should I say it, oh yes...poetic. Talking as if the gods themselves had conceived you, in the depths of hell. It is you who is flawed. Sorry, you couldn't be more wrong about me. I thought for a while that you had some credibility. After all, our affections have fallen on the same girl, surely, you had some knowledge of her superb character. But from what you just said, it is crystal clear that you know Lily like you know my dead grandfather. You think that she would bestow her love on someone as you have described? So cocky and obnoxious that the even the demons could not stand him. Look around you, Severus. Open your eyes to the truth and see that I am just as much of a mortal man as you are. The difference lies in how I live my life and how I view the world. I don't see others greater or lesser than me, I see other people. I see people whom I trust, whom I love, whom I hate. I do not see myself as some all-powerful being. I see and average man, with round glasses and untidy hair. I see a man who can play Quidditch and transfigure a coffee table into a lion. I have talents, yes, but I am just a man. Just a man like you, like Douglas, Sirius, Peter, and Dumbledore. Don't criticize me for using my talents, for being who I am, for loving Lily. It's not your place and how dare you take the role of God and do so.

"You know nothing about me, just that I have many friends, people who enjoy my company, and I enjoy there's. I don't meet someone with a curled lip and a snare, like you do. I greet them with a smile and a handshake. 

"And remember, whenever you see Lily walking to class, singing a song with her beautiful voice, or smiling and laughing with her friends, that I saved your life tonight. Dumbledore has said that you are in my debt, but I ask nothing of you, Snape. I don't want you to do anything for me. Nothing at all. Hate me for as long as you want, I don't care. But remember that I, the one person you can't stand, saved your life and asked nothing in return. Think of that till the day you die.

"Before I leave you here, in the girls bathroom, I want to remind you one very last time of this. I love Lily. I love her more than anything in this world and I will kill anyone that tries to take her from me, or die trying. Do you understand me, Snape?"

He looked at James emotionless once again, not saying anything.

"Let's get out of here," James said, turning to Sirius and motioning for the door.

Sirius followed behind James, looking back at Snape as he walked to the door.

"Can't do anything alone, can you Potter," Snape said, grinning. 

Sirius wheeled around full circle and kicked Snape in the stomach, knocking him onto the floor with a thud.

"You just watch your mouth, you stupid git," Sirius said. He walked back to the open door, James watching him. "I hate that guy, I really do."

Peeves trailed after them down the corridor, complaining that blood wasn't shed. Neither of them spoke on the way back to the tower. James was thinking of the evening and how it played out, Sirius was thinking the same. Peeves found this all to be very boring and he floated away to cause trouble elsewhere, leaving James and Sirius alone.

Once inside the common room, James spoke.

"Sirius," he started, first looking at the ground, then into Sirius's face. He hesitated for a while, gathering his words. "I want to thank you. He was going to go through with it and I would have lost her forever."

Sirius looked into his eyes and smiled a little.

"You're the greatest friend a guy could ask for. Not many people would go to those lengths to protect someone," James finished.

"I know you can't live without her, that's why I did it. But I think saving him was a far better revenge, don't you think. Did you see the look on his face when you told him all that?" Sirius said, grinning. The two of them laughed heartily and made their way upstairs for the last time that year. 

  
  


The next morning was filled with anticipation and plenty of activity. People were scrounging around the tower as if there was no tomorrow. The girls especially were very worrisome, running around as if their heads were cut off. But others, such as James, Sirius, and Peter, didn't get up with everyone else, but slept on through all of the excitement, not waking till nine that morning.

There was a very loud knocking on their dormitory door. James pulled back his sheets and slowly opened one eye. 

There was another knock.

"Sirius," James groaned weakly. There was no movement from him. "Sirius, someone's knocking on the door."

Sirius groaned back and moved slightly.

"Fine, I'll get it then," James said, throwing back his sheets. He stumbled out of bed and ruffled his hair; it was messier than usual. He opened the door half way, when the person on the other end pushed it hard, nearly knocking drowsy James to the floor.

"James," Lily said sternly, "the train leaves in an hour and you're still in bed?" She started to move to his trunk when she noticed his face. "James, what happened?" she asked with concern. She bent down to him and put her hand to his face.

"Hey you're not a guy!" Sirius said sitting up quickly; his hair was messier than James's. 

"Thanks for the compliment," Lily said as she looked back at James. 

"He meant that you're not supposed to be in here, my darling. And to answer your question, Snape happened." he replied with a smile.

"Why did he hit you?"

"He was going to the...the...um...the..."

"Whomping Willow," Sirius spit out.

"Yes, yes, the Whomping willow. I knew he would get hurt, so I stopped him and he hit me. That's what you get for saving a prat like him, I guess." He looked at Lily; she started at him with love in her eyes. "No biggie, I'm fine."

"You're so brave," she said, then kissed his lips.

Peter began to stir and quickly found this scene very awkward.

"And you came into my dorm... at night I might add," she said, as she got up from James's side and began piling his things into his trunk.

"Whoa!" Peter said sitting up extremely fast. "Her dorm?"

"What were you doing there?" Sirius asked with a sinister smile, like he already knew the answer.

"Not even close, Sirius," Lily responded. "You all had better get dressed and ready to leave. Have any of you packed yet?"

"Early packing is for pansies," Sirius yawned as he fell back on his bed. Then James and Peter just shook their heads. 

"Are you going to wear your pajamas on the train?" Lily asked James, with a slight grin.

"I was thinking about it, but these pants make my thighs look fat," he said and tried to maintain a serious face, but lost it due to the fact that Sirius was crying with laughter and Peter was buckled over. Even Lily cracked.

"Very funny. Now why don't you all pack before the train leaves the station. Though it would be quite amusing to see you four running half dressed behind the train as the rest of us are waving to you," she said as she made her way to the door.

"Is that how you want to see me, Lily?" Sirius asked, getting up from his bed. James swung around and frowned at him. "I'm only kidding, James. Sheesh, relax."

"Just get ready to leave, you guys," she said as she shut the door.

"What kind of stupid comment was that?" James asked.

"Lighten up. It was a joke, nothing more, nothing less, now let's get a move on. The train won't wait for us and as much as I like this place, I don't want to stay here for Christmas."

  
  


* * * * *

"The last time in '76 we see this place," Remus said as he lifted his trunk and put it in the baggage compartment.

"I know," Sirius replied looking back at the great castle. "And a whole new year of pranking and adventures waiting to unfold."

Lily and Jade, who were waiting just feet from them, rolled their eyes and guffawed .

"Ah," Sirius said, "comments from the peanut gallery. Please, share with us you opinions. It sound like you want to express them."

The two looked at each other and laughed, then left them and went onto the train.

"I will never understand women," Sirius said, as he gave his trunk to the man loading the baggage. James looked at him and grinned.

"Join the club. Glad that you finally admitted to it, my friend," James said. "I think they're laughing at us this time. I think they probably do that often. Which means we're very important to them."

"Only as comedy relief," Remus chimed in. "Are we sitting with them, or is it just going to be the four of us again, like old times?"

"I don't particularly care," Sirius said as he stretched and yawned. He looked over at James. "You want to sit with her, don't you?"

"Oh it doesn't really matter to me, whatever you guys want to do," but he did want to sit with her and all three of them recognized that. 

When they got onto the train, they tried to find where Lily, Jade and Liz were seated, which proved a little difficult.

"Remus," James said as he ducked his head into various compartments, "about last night..."

"Yeah," Remus replied, "sorry I tried to attack you, I was a little out of control. I was a bit surprised to see Snape there."

"No," James responded, his face going slightly pink, "I was going to apologize for kicking you so hard. I know you didn't mean to come at me like that, but you flew to the other end of the room and I was afraid that I hurt you."

"No harm done."

"Where are those girls?" Sirius said with frustration. "Are they hiding from us intentionally?"

"BOO!" Jade yelled as she lunged her body into the hall of the train. The boys jumped back; Peter let out a small shriek.

"Looking for us, boys?" Lily said as she came behind Jade from the train compartment. "Well, here we are."

"What has gotten into the three of you?" James asked curiously. "What did you have for breakfast? You acting really..."

"Spunky," Sirius said. "Can we come in?"

Lily, Jade, and now Liz all exchanged devilish grins. "No," Lily said, then bit her lip.

"Why not?" James inquired.

"Are you going to talk about us?" Sirius asked, leaning on the compartment entrance, crossing his arms.

"Not exactly," Jade said, imitating Sirius by crossing her arms and leaning on the wall.

"Well what then?" Remus asked.

"We just want to be left alone, is that too much to ask?" Lily said moving closer to them.

"Yes," James said. "What is so important that you don't want us to join you?"

"Seven grown people in a compartment, for one. And two, we are going to laugh about the four of you, and would like to do so in private," Lily said, her two friends giggling behind her. The four boys exchanged looks of confusion.

"Oh," Lily said as she put her hand on James's cheek, tapping him softly, "don't worry, blue eyes, I still love you. I just want some time with the girls for a while, you understand. We have much to discuss." And turning to the remaining three she said, "Tootle lue!"

"James," Peter said. James turned away from Lily to look at him. "The compartment next to them is empty."

James, Sirius, and Remus grinned maliciously at the three girls. "Just next door, then" James said to Lily. "That's where we'll be if you need us."

"But don't worry," Remus said grinning, "we promise we won't listen to a word you say, will we guys?"

"Wouldn't dream of it!" they all said in unison.

"Goodbye, then," Lily said, waving her long fingers at them.

"Missing you already," Jade added, putting her hands over her heart and pretending to swoon. Lily laughed.

"Lets' go," James said, moving into the next compartment. The other three followed suit and sat down on the comfortable seats. Looking outside the window they could see that the train was beginning to move.

Sirius put his ear to the wall and closed his eyes, concentrating hard.

"You're not going to be able to hear anything," Remus said leaning his back on the seat and shutting his eyes.

"Sirius," James said, "don't do that, they'll know better than to speak loudly so we can hear them."

"Shhhh!" he said, putting his finger to his mouth. "They're talking about us," he whispered.

James shot out of his seat and went to sit next to Sirius. He propped his ear on the wall.

"I don't hear anything," James whispered.

"That's because they aren't saying anything right now," he whispered back. 

"What were they saying before?"

"I don't know, I just heard your name."

Remus laughed, "Do you know how ridiculous the two of you sound over there?"

"Shut up," James said. "You want to know just as much as us."

"I can't hear anything. I think they're whispering now," Sirius said, pulling away from the wall. "Well so far this journey is really boring. We need to do something to them"

"Like what?" James asked.

"I don't know, but something. What's happened to us?" Sirius asked like if he was a witness to an accident. "We used to be so good at making trouble. If you hadn't been so love sick this whole year..."

"Hey, you're just jealous. And don't change the subject. If you want to pull something then do it, I am right behind you. What were you planning on doing?" James said.

"We could..."

"Set off a dung bomb!" Peter yelled excitedly.

"No," Remus said, "that's for amateurs. We need to do something good. But what can you do to a bunch of girls? We've never done anything to girls before."

"Remus, you're right," Sirius said thoughtfully. "What can we do to a bunch of girls? Let's think about this for a while. What do girls hate?"

"Lily isn't to keen on bugs. She screams anytime she sees a spider. But I don't really want to scare her," James put in.

"Liz is really self conscious," Remus said. "She's always worried about looking good."

"That's it!" Sirius said. "All girls are like that! Why didn't we think of this long ago? Somehow we need to make them think that they look fat or ugly."

"Oooh, this is good," James said, rubbing his hands together and smiling devilishly. "So what are we gonna do? I mean, they're in that compartment, and we're here, so how do we get in there without them seeing us? My cloak is in baggage, we can't exactly get it. What are we going to do anyway?"

"I don't know," Sirius said, rubbing his chin. "The three of them are all nice looking, very thin..."

"I got it!" James yelled, jumping out of his seat.

The other three tried to silence him. 

"What?" Sirius whispered.

"We're not going to be able to do it on the train, is the only thing. We'll have to get back to Hogwarts a little earlier than everyone else so we can do this. It'll be great," James said enthusiastically.

"What is it?" Remus asked.

"We're going to jinx all the girls mirrors so that when they look at their reflection they look 50 pounds heavier."

"I don't know that will work so well. They'll know something's up," Remus said.

"Yeah," Sirius said. "We need to make it much more subtle."

James thought a little while, then snapped his fingers, "Okay, how about this. Same idea, only not so extreme. It'll be a little more complicated, but it can be done. We need to appeal to each girl in a different way, say that when Liz looks in the mirror, she sees she has a large bum, and when Jade looks she sees she has ugly bags under her eyes, and Lily looks and sees she has rolls on her stomach or something. We need to jinx it so that it hits them where they're sensitive."

"I like it," Sirius with a huge grin.

"Excellent plan!" Remus whispered. "Because it'll be as though the Christmas holidays have really changed them. This is brilliant, James!"

"I have one question," Peter finally spoke. "How are you going to do it? Won't you get caught? They'll all kill you once they've found out."

"Peter don't be such a worry, it'll be fine. Sirius and I will research the spell over the holiday. Dad will only be too happy to help when we tell him the plan," James said quietly.

Sirius leaned his head back against the wall, then pushed his ear against the compartment separating the two groups.

"They're talking again!" Sirius whispered. James pushed his head against the wall.

"You guys are being so immature," Remus told them, as he leaned back on his seat, closing his tired eyes.

"I heard your name, Remus!" Sirius said.

Remus shot out of his seat and shoved himself in between James and Sirius, trying to press his ear to the door.

"You guys, what about me?" Peter inquired. Peter tried his best to squeeze in, but the four of them were no longer small eleven year olds; they were very large teenagers, trying to fit themselves on a seat not meant for four people huddling together to hear on the other side of the compartment.

"Peter, you squashing me!"

"Ouch!"

"I can't hear anything."

"That's because you're flapping your gums."

"Oh, shut up."

"Who made you the boss?"

"You said they were talking about me, I can't hear anything."

"Ouch, Peter!"

"Sorry, but I can't even get my ear near the wall."

"Will you pick a spot, Sirius!"

"Hey!"

"What in God's name are the four of you doing?" came a voice from the direction of the compartment opening.

The four of them, as if on cue, slowly looked at the three girls, who were all folding their arms, and trying to keep from laughing.

No one said anything for a short while. James looked at Sirius, then at Lily.

"Nothing," he said seated awkwardly on the floor.

"Nothing?" Lily asked, trying to contain the giggles. "Were you guys trying to listen to us through the wall?"

"No," said Sirius flatly. "Why would we want to do that?"

"Yeah," Remus said. "We have better things to do than listen to you."

"Exactly," James added. "As a matter of fact, we could care less about the things you say about us. We were making plans, I'll have you know."

"Good plans," Peter said.

"Is that so?" Lily replied. She was beaming, and the four boys could tell that she really wanted to laugh. Lily turned and looked and Liz and Jade and winked. "So you didn't hear us talking about how immature the four of you are."

Sirius stood up and pointed at Lily, as if he was a father yelling at his daughter. "I KNEW IT!" he said, triumph on his face. "I knew you were saying bad stuff about us, I could hear perfectly well." He nodded to his three friends who also looked a bit uppity for themselves.

The three ladies, still standing in the doorway, were not nodding, but laughing more hysterically than they were before.

"What's so funny?" Sirius asked James.

"I have no idea," James answered honestly.

"I don't understand women," Peter said, standing up along side them.

After several minutes of laughter, the three of them were able to contain themselves. Lily had tears in her eyes, and was very flushed.

"We never said a word about you," Lily said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Not a single word was said about you. We knew the whole time you had your ears pressed against the wall like small school children, and thought it would be funny if we made you suspicious. So, we talked about normal stuff, and decided to say one of your names loudly every several minutes, and it worked. You all went crazy."

James turned around and faced his friends, he was smiling.

"Did you hear that?" he asked flippantly. "It was a joke, they didn't say a word!" He opened his mouth very wide and laughed. It was not a real laugh, but one to poke fun.

Liz and Jade turned to look at Lily, who gave a funny expression back to them. And just as soon as James started he stopped.

James became silent, but only to turn around and advance on Lily, who screamed and ran down the train.

The train ride, from then on, was a lot of fun. The three girls crammed as best they could into the guys compartment. Lily sat with James, Liz with Remus, and Jade sat next to Sirius, Peter just sat in between whoever. They talked about the holidays, Quidditch, next year, and other unimportant items. None of the Marauders talked about the mirror hexing in front of the girls; it was to be kept in utter secrecy.

Once at Platform Nine and Three Quarters, all the students got off the train, and said the usual, "See you next year!" to their friends. 

Peter was the first to see his mother and father. He said his goodbyes to everyone and left. Remus was next to spot his family, then he too said goodbye. 

Lily said that her parents were probably waiting for her on the other side of the barrier, but she didn't go; she put her arms around James and held him tight. Her head was on his chest, her eyes were closed.

James put one arm around her back, the other hand stroked her hair, and he bent his head down to kiss her.

"It's only a few weeks, you two," Sirius said without sarcasm. Jade smiled at him, then at the two holding each other. 

"I'm really going to miss you," James said to her.

"I'm really going to miss you, too," she replied, moving her head up slowly so she could gaze upon his face. She took her hands from around him and put them on the back of his head. She drew him near and kissed him. 

This went on for several minutes. Sirius left them there and began looking for his mother and father, Jade walking with him.

"Doing anything special this Christmas?" she asked him.

"No. I wish I was going to Bermuda, like Lily. You?"

"No. And Lily won't take me with her, either," he said smiling.

"That's terrible," Sirius said in mock anger. "What kind of friend is she?"

"Apparently not a very good one," she said in a mocking tone back. The two laughed lightly, before someone called out for Sirius.

"Sirius?" someone called again. Both Jade and Sirius turned around to see who the voice belonged to.

It was a tall man, a bit handsome you could say, with a friendly smile, jet black hair and square framed glasses. Jade knew he looked too familiar for it to be a coincidence.

"Hello, Mr. Potter," Sirius said smiling at him.

"Sirius!" He said in return, going towards him and hugging him. "How are you?"

"Great. You?" 

"Just fine. I just thought that James would be with you," he said, searching the large crowd of students.

"No," Sirius said with a devilish grin. "No, he's just over there. He's, um, kissing his girlfriend." Sirius pointed to where James was. You could easily see two small white hands on the back of his head.

"Ah," Mr. Potter said smiling. "So I finally get to meet the famous Lily, do I?"

"Yes you do. You could probably stand there all day and they wouldn't even see you, so my advice is to make a lot of noise." Sirius winked at him.

Mr. Potter walked over to where his son was. Sirius came right behind him after saying goodbye to Jade.

"Yeah, they've been doing this for a little while now," Sirius said with a smirk. "If you want, I can pull him out of it."

"No," Mr. Potter said smiling, "No, I think I can get him." He moved up right behind James and leaned closer to his ear. He took a shallow breath, then said in a normal volume, "Hello, son."

James leapt straight up; Lily lost balance and stepped backwards. James went to turn around, but his father put his arms around his chest tightly and laughed at him.

"I missed you so much!" he said, as he whirled James around and hugged him.

"Yeah, I missed you too, Dad," he replied, blushing.

"I didn't embarrass you, did I?" Mr. Potter asked, smirking. He knew he had, but he didn't mean too. Sirius was still laughing at the way James leapt into the sky. Lily just watched silently, blushing more than James was.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Mr. Potter asked James, as pointed to Lily.

"Umm, yeah," James answered. "Dad this is Lily, Lily this is Byron Potter."

"Oh," Byron said moving in closer and putting out his hand to shake Lily's, "for once my son isn't lying; you are lovely."

"Thank you," she said laughing lightly.

"I have heard so much about you, Lily," Byron said, ignoring James's popping eyes. "James talks of you so much over summer and Christmas."

"So, where's mum?" James interrupted.

"Talking with Jen, over there some where," he answered pointing to a vague area of the platform.

"Don't you think you should go look for her?" James asked, motioning his head in the general direction.

"Yes, I will do that. But we are to leave in a short while, all right? Say goodbye in this century, and meet your mother and I in the corner." With that, he shook Lily's hand again, smiled at Sirius, and left.

"He's seems very nice, James," Lily said as she put her arms on his shoulders. "Very nice. You're lucky you have a good father."

"I know, I love him and all. He just gets the biggest thrill out of startling me," he replied, putting his hands around her waist.

"Hold on just one second," Sirius said, moving forward. "He asked that you say goodbye, not initiate more snogging. Respect you mother and father James; just say goodbye. No more kissing." 

"Sirius," James sighed exasperatedly, "leave us alone, would you?"

Sirius groaned, nodded, and left them.

"I'm going to miss you so much," James said to her again, "so very much."

"I know. I'm going to miss you like crazy. Promise you'll write to me."

"Of course I will. Everyday. You have to write me back and send pictures of you in warm Bermuda. I'll think of you all the time." He held her tighter, her face was buried in his sweater. 

They just held each other for several minutes without saying anything, without movement. It was as though they would never see each other again. Then Lily spoke, after what must have been five minutes.

"James," she said.

"Yeah," he replied quietly.

"We have to let go. My family is waiting for me. I don't want them to worry."

"Me neither," but he didn't relent his grip, nor did she.

"So we need to stop this."

"I agree."

"All right," she said, "on the count of three, we let go."

"Sounds good," he said, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

"One...two...three," there was no change, neither of them moved.

James smiled, and kissed her.

"You were supposed to let go of me," Lily said to him, her chin on his shoulder.

"Uh huh. You were supposed to let go of me."

"I can't, you have to let go first."

"Okay, let's try again. Count to three," James said, still smiling.

"Are you going to let go this time?" she asked, now smiling as well.

"Maybe. I'm thinking about it."

"James!" she said, laughing. She moved her head up and pulled back a bit, so she could look in his eyes. "All right, we're getting closer." She put her hands on his arms, which were still securely wrapped around her thin waist, and tried to pry them off of her. He let go slowly, but took her hands in his as a trade.

She smiled and looked down. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. 

"I love you," he said.

"I love you, too," she said back. She leaned in again and kissed him. As is consistent with two people in love, the kissed for quite a while... again. And then they embraced, completely forgetting their families in waiting.

"That's it! I've had it!" Sirius said loudly at them. The both turned to see him, but said nothing. "You're going to be separated for just two weeks, that's hardly enough time to fret about. Two weeks is like 340 hours or so. That's nothing!"

Lily looked at James horror struck when she heard 340 hours. 

"It's not that bad," Sirius said, shrugging. James looked at him and gave a weak smile. "We have to go James, Lily has to go."

"I know, just leave us alone," James said to him.

"I did that, remember, and you kissed again."

James gave him a look, a look that Sirius only knew from experience. A look that commanded respect.

Sirius, rolled his eyes and smiled at them. "All right, I'll be over there," he said pointing on the other side of the platform.

"Okay," James said. Sirius walked away, sniggering quietly to himself.

"Oh, I almost forgot," James said suddenly. He pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small rectangular box, wrapped in a shiny blue paper. "Happy Christmas," James said as he gave it to her.

"But you already gave me something," she said as she took the box. 

"I know, this is for now. The other is for later," he smiled. "So open it."

She smiled slightly and unwrapped it. It was a soft case and when she opened it, she said, "Oh, James!" Inside was a small opaline pendant, shaped as a lily, with one small green emerald in the center. It was strung on a glistening platinum chain. "It's beautiful!"

"Well, I thought you could make it look better," he replied quietly.

She looked at him with utmost adoration in her eyes; she wasn't even able to smile she was so taken.

"Now I have to go," James said, leaning into her, and kissing her once on her cheek. "I'm really going to miss you, in case you didn't hear me the first dozen times. Goodbye!" and with that, James turned and left, looking back occasionally to see Lily's face, full of what was unmistakably true love.


	9. Reflections and Deceptions

*** The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn' to be sold, reproduced or taken as true. The main characters and most locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. No copyright infringement is intended.***  
  


Part Nine: Reflections and Deceptions  
"What one sees is not thyself, but a representation of the physical, forgetting the inner dimensions of the soul."

Sirius Black, tall, dark and hansom as he was, enjoyed many a thing. Girls, Quidditch, girls, picking on Snape, and girls, were just a few things that he was crazy about. But one thing he valued not listed above, was sleep. Sirius could probably sleep through earthquakes, fires, huge explosions, and his mother yelling at him from down stairs. The sleeping was what he was looking forward too the most during the holidays. He wasn't to go anywhere, see anyone, or have an pressing engagements for two whole weeks. He wasn't going to wake up till the morning time had reached two digits, and he was grateful.

Such as it was on the first Saturday of his vacation. Asleep, upstairs in his large bedroom, where he heard nothing, saw nothing, and felt nothing but the warm blankets piled thickly on top of him. He just turned over on his right side, and sighed.

Then there was a small irritating noise. "Rap, rap, rap," on his window. Probably a bird, he thought, it'll go away soon enough. "Rap, rap, rap," again on his window. Sirius, who could sleep through anything loud, couldn't sleep through small rhythmic noises. He put the pillow on top of his head, but then he waited to hear the rapping again. "Rap, rap, rap," and there it was, he could relax til it started again. The sound was muffled, but could still be heard through the pillow. 

This was just too much. Sirius, pulled the pillow off his head, and looked at the time, it was 6 in the morning. "Rap, rap, rap," again! That was it. Sirius sat up suddenly, got out of his bed, and walked to his window, wearing only old shorts, and a tank top. He looked up at the window, and dropped his jaw.

"Sirius, let me in!" came James's muffled voice through the window. He was standing in a tree, fully dressed and fully awake, acting as though it were midday. "Sirius!" James said again, "It's cold out here, let me in."

Reluctantly, Sirius opened the window, and let James jump in. It was snowing outside, Sirius noted, for James was covered in powdery white flakes. 

"James," Sirius said, trying to sound calm, "what the hell are you doing?"

James looked back at Sirius as if he was an idiot, asking a very obvious question. "Seeing you, of course. It's morning, we have lots to do, you know."

Sirius put his hand on his eyes, frustrated with his best friend.

"Do you know what time it is, James?" he asked with a sour tone.

"Yes, it's six o'clock. Time to rise and shine."

"No, James, that's not right. Look outside and tell me if you can see the sun," Sirius said, pointing out of his window.

"So you're going to waste vacation sleeping?"

"God, isn't even up yet. God, James, he doesn't get up for a few more hours. I need my beauty sleep! You need to go back to your own house, and let me be! For the love of GOD!"

"Somebody's grumpy," James said smirking, "are you alright?"

Sirius almost lost it. If he didn't consider James to be his brother, he would have thrown him out the window. Was he acting stupid on purpose?

"James," Sirius said, trying to be calm, "I'm only going to say this once. Go home."

"Why?"

"So I won't hurt you, possibly by chucking you into the snow from the second story!"

"It's evening in Bermuda right now," James said, as if he didn't hear what Sirius had just said to him.

"Is that what this is all about? Does Lily know you obsess over her like this? Is this what I have to look forward too all summer? She's only gone for two weeks. Two weeks! That's nothing, nothing at all. It'll fly by, it always does. You weren't like this last Christmas, you know."

"I know," James said solemnly.

He does look rather pathetic, Sirius thought to himself. He sighed, walked forward, and put his hands on James shoulders.

"This is what, I'm going to do for you," he said, looking at him. "At eight, that's two hours from now, lover boy, you can come back over, and we'll start researching that spell to jinx the girls bathroom. Alright? Can you make it two hours? Will you live that long for me?"

James smiled, "Yeah," he said quietly. 

"Good, now get our of here!" Sirius said with a grin. James laughed and went to Sirius door, as he opened it, he turned back.

"Thanks a lot. You're the greatest friend in the world, Sirius."

"And you're the greatest fruitcake in the world," he replied jovially, as he laid back on his bed. "I'll see you in two hours, Prongs. No earlier, or I'll kill you."

James closed the door behind him, and walked down the stairs, into the main living room, for the entry way, and out into the falling snow.

There wasn't a more welcome place, than Godric's Hollow. The houses all looked different from one another, the snow laid like a white blanket on the roof tops. The sun was starting to rise now, giving the sky a light shade of pink. Everything looked so quite and still, so peaceful and at ease. Red Cardinals accented the beautiful scene, by hopping through the snow covered lawns.

James walked back to his house, the snow crunching under him. As he reached for the handle on the great front door, he heard his mother's laughter. Dad must have told a joke, he thought. He opened the door and walked inside. Getting a bit hungry he headed for the kitchen, only his parents were there, and didn't notice that he had entered.

They were rather involved at the moment, Byron was kissing Samantha quite enthusiastically, the kind of kiss James and Lily often engaged in, but James would rather not see his parents doing it. He looked away rather quickly, but could still hear the sound effects.

"I'm back," he said, irritation noted in his voice.

Byron and Samantha both pulled apart, and looked at their son's back.

"James," his mother said, as if she was just saying good morning, "we thought you went to Sirius's for breakfast."

James turned around, just in time to see his mother wiping her lips. He could have vomited.

"Yeah, well. Sirius thought it was a bit early for talking, so I came back," he replied, but he decided to press the matter. "You two have nine months out of the year, when I'm not here. But you have to pick now to start doing....to start doing....that?"

"Holiday cheer, James," Byron said warmly. Samantha giggled, and hugged her husband, who kissed the top of her head, which made her giggle even more.

"I'm out of here," James said, and he wheeled around, and headed back for Sirius's.

He never knocked on the door, he just entered, went back upstairs, opened Sirius's door very silently, and entered. Not to his surprise, Sirius was asleep. So, having slept here before, when he was just a small child, however, he went over to the corner and laid on what was once his bed. Sirius had one in his house as well. 

He lay there for a while, thinking of what lay ahead of him, what would his life be like after Hogwarts. Would things ever be the same?

Sirius began to snore.

James turned to look at him from across the room. His mouth was open wide, so much that James could see his back teeth. His head was at an awkward position, and his hair was standing on end. James couldn't figure out how he slept like that.

He couldn't help but think of Lily as he lay there. What was she doing now, was she thinking of him?

The snoring was starting to get to him.

"That's it," he said to himself. He got up, and looked at the clock, it was 6:15. He couldn't wake him for at least another hour and 45 minutes. He went to the door and left the room, heading down stairs. It sounded as though Jen was up, making noise in the kitchen.

He decided to go and say hello. Their house was decorated beautifully. A large evergreen stood in the living room corner, dawned with thick gold ribbons, and lit candles. Soft colored fairy lights sparkled along the walls, and the smell of pies was in the air. 

Jen was in the kitchen, preparing to cook, it looked like. She turned from the oven, and spotted James, who smiled at her.

"Hello, James. What are you doing here so early?" She smiled as she asked. She was a very pretty woman, tall and lean, with medium length warm brown hair, and soft brown eyes.

"I was just going to hang out with Sirius, but he's snoring right now," he replied, taking a seat at the kitchen counter.

"Sirius said he won't rise till it's ten or so," she said, "He can be quite lazy when he wants to." She took out a wand, and started to swirl it around in a bowl, which filled with thick dark chocolate. "So I hear there's a young lady in your life now," she turned up and smiled at him. "I'm glad that you got what you wanted. It's about time."

"That's what Sirius said."

"I remember when you were younger, you used to talk about her all the time. You had the biggest thing for her, I thought it was the sweetest thing on earth. When your mother and father got the notice about the bathroom scene, neither one of them once got angry about it."

"No? What did you all do?"

"Byron was so happy for you. Sam just cried for a while, started to say she was losing you, that you were growing up. It didn't occur to her before, I guess."

"I'm glad they didn't blow up."

"Aren't they expecting you to be home, dear?"

"Well," James began uncomfortably, "When I went into the kitchen, they were a little-um....preoccupied."

Mrs. Black seemed to understand, she smiled brightly. At the same moment, a tall, very hansom man, came down the stairs, entered the kitchen, put his arms around Jens waist and kissed her neck. She giggled, and turned to him and kissed him back.

James got up, and started to walk out of the room.

"Hello, son," The man called out to James. He turned around, smiled weakly, and said, "Hello, Mitch."

Still holding his wife tightly, he started to talk to him. "What brings you here so early?"

Clearly, his parents weren't the only ones affected by the Christmas season. "I was just dropping by, you know. Sirius is still asleep. I was just leaving, though--"

"Do you want me to wake him for you? He doesn't need to sleep all day," Mitch said.

"No that's alright, I'll be back in a couple of hours. Nice seeing you again," he said, smiling and waving as he made his way for the door.

"Nice seeing you too, James."  
  
  


Eight O'clock didn't come for what seemed like an eternity. James walked quickly up the stairs to his room, and closed the door behind him. He went over to his desk, pulled out plenty of parchment, an ink well, and a quill and began his first letter to Lily.

He told her everything he was thinking, which was mostly about her. That he had never been happier than the times she was with him, all the romantic stuff that she would like to hear, that he liked to write and felt. After he wrote three pages, he thought it was better to just call it quits and try to stay in his world, instead of dream of hers.

At eight, Sirius came bursting into his room, with the Daily Prophet in his hand, swinging it about.

"James," he said rushed, "have you seen the news?"

"No," he returned, adjusting his seat so that he could look at him. 

Sirius came over to him, and threw the paper on his desk. He pointed at the headline, which read:

You-know-who kills the McKinnons

James just looked at the paper for a short while, stunned. It was well known that the McKinnons were one of the finest wizarding families in the world, behind them some very serious magical talent. The fact that Voldemort could kill such a powerful family with such ease, sent a chill up his spine.

"It happened just last night," Sirius said solemnly, with a note of sincerity. "The entire family, wiped out. Just like that."

"Why?" James asked, still looking at the paper. He had met the McKinnons, they were a very nice family, everyone seemed to like them. They had a son, just about his age, and a young daughter, younger than he was. All four of them were dead. Found, according to the paper, in different rooms.

"Resisted, we think," Sirius said, taking a seat, "But no one knows for sure at the moment. It's bound to come out eventually though, it always does. This makes two families his killed, and that's only been this year. He killed the Bones' back in September."

"What a monster," he mumbled.

"He's unstoppable. He'll kill anyone that stands in his way, and it doesn't bother him."

"What is he trying to do? Why is he killing all of them?"

"World domination," Sirius suggested, looking at James. "Searching for something only great wizards dream of: immortality. And at this rate, he's going to get it. No one can stop him."

James looked up at Sirius, took his glasses off, and rubbed his nose pensively.

"I refuse to believe that," James said, putting his glasses back on his face. "There is always someone better out there. One can never be the best. And neither can he. One day, one day Sirius, someone will defeat him."

"I hope you're right," he said, "I hope your right."

* * * * *  


Once the initial shock of Voldemort's killings had worn off, which was days later, Sirius and James had begun operation mirror hex. They also notified Hogwarts that they would be returning a few days earlier than every one else, just because.

As requested, Remus joined them for a couple of days to aid in the pranking.

"First things first," James said to them, all seated in his living room, "We need to hex all of the girls mirrors, in all bathrooms, this is going to be very tricky, we need lots of back up and planning."

"I agree, we're gonna need Peter playing clueless, and probably one girl saying there's nothing wrong with the mirrors, to keep it going longer," Sirius said.

"Excellent, Sirius, but who can we use. Lily can't keep a strait face."

"Jade can," Sirius said with a grin. "She's the one who helped me with setting up the History of Magic class for you and Lily."

"Send an owl to her," James said convinced of her talent and poise. "Remus and I are going to look in Dad's study, see what kind of hexes he has listed."

Sirius rose from his seat, and went up to James's room. Inside were tons of pictures of Lily.

"It's like I've entered her shrine," he said to himself, as he looked at all the pictures smiling at him. He went to the corner of the room, and pulled out some parchment and quill from James's desk. He began writing.

Dear Jade,

Hope your Christmas was good, and are enjoying the holidays. Over here, James, Remus and I are all concocting a great plan, and we need your assistance. I remember how well you did when you and I were trying to set up our friends, and how you never let Lily know. I need you to do the same here. Don't tell anyone that we are planning something. It's very important that we keep this to ourselves. If your connected to the Floo network, come over as soon as you can. You can pop over to my house or James, either way you should be able to find us. If not, send an owl.

Sirius  
  
  


He finished the letter, secured it to James's Great Horned Owl, "Nimbus" and sent him out to find Jade. He smiled as he watched Nimbus fly westward, and wondered when Jade would get it and if she would come right away.

He headed back down stairs and into the study to find James, Remus and Byron Potter all looking up spells and hexes in his books.

Byron looked up as Sirius entered. "We think we found something," he said, quite enthusiastically. Byron, got up and showed Sirius. It looked like a simple spell at first, just mumble a few words and bam, you have a jinxed mirror, but Byron said there was a bit more too it.

"You have to concentrate quite hard, and have a lot of experience with deception charms. I'm afraid they don't teach that till seventh year. Luckily, I remember some," he said, winking at the three of them.

Byron is what you would call a goofy kinda guy. Everyone loved him, he was funny, smart, and sometimes acted like an eleven year old, glad to be in the action again. When James had told him the plan, he simply lit up with excitement.

"We can practice this on your mother," he said to James, "and if that works, go across the street and get their reactions."

"Yeah," James said smiling.

The four of them all got up, and went to the family bathroom, which had quite a large mirror. Byron thought it best to show the boys how it was done before they started waving their wands in the house.

"Okay, so you point it at the mirror, concentrate and mumble, not say, mumble: Sonhoruem, miskus, mafe. Fracturus, bodus, face." After he uttered the words, their images in the mirror changed. For a while none of them noticed anything, but then Sirius spoke.

"Oh my," he said, moving for the mirror, "Is my nose really that big?"

"Dad, it didn't work," James said. He tried not to smile.

Sirius whirled around and frowned at James. James laughed loud and long at his facial expression.  


That afternoon, Jade arrived through the fire place in the Potter's living room. She looked very pretty, even with all of the soot covering her.

"I got here as soon as I could, Sirius," she said smiling at him, as she dusted herself off. "What are the three of you up too, this time?"

"I want to show you," Sirius said, and he took her hand and led her into the bathroom. James and Remus were still there, practicing on some other mirrors.

"Now, stand in front of it," Sirius instructed. James and Remus stopped to see her reaction.

Jade turned to look in the mirror, her hand still clutching Sirius's. She started for a while, then frowned. 

"What happened to my eyes? There are dark circles around them. I look....ugly."

"You sure do!" Sirius said excitedly. Jade yanked her hand out of his, and faced him with rage.

"Are you saying I'm ugly? And you wanted my help, you ungrateful--"

"Jade!" James interrupted. "That's the joke. The mirror makes you look different, in a bad way. You don't really look like that, get it?"

She looked in the mirror again, and stepped forward, to get a better look. Then she smiled at it's simplicity. The three boys smiled back at her.

"So will you help us?"

As planned, the three boys made back to school earlier than the rest. They informed Peter, but he couldn't get away from his family. Jade also came along, going over the game plan repeatedly. She was very much involved in the prank, and was loving every minute of it.

Once off the train, the four of them traversed through the snow, back up to the castle and into the Gryffindor Common room. There were several people back; this was unexpected, but plans had been prepared.

James and Sirius were to go into the girls bathrooms, one by one. Jade would play look out, making sure no one was to go in. Remus and Peter, once he arrived, would be the show. Everything was rehearsed and planned perfectly. They just needed Peter.

Peter arrived three days later, apologizing the entire time. 

"I am so sorry," he kept saying, "I tried to get away sooner, but they wouldn't let me."

"Don't worry about it, Peter, just do your job, and follow Moony's lead," James said to him.

It was Friday, most people would be back the next morning, including Lily, so everything had to be done today. 

In the middle of the afternoon, Remus and Peter came into the common room, arguing. James and Sirius watched from over head on the stair well.

"Peter! How can you be so stupid and clumsy?!" Remus began. People started to watch.

"I said I'm sorry! It wasn't my fault, I--"

"It was your fault you stupid git! I told not to follow me around like a puppy, and what did you do? You went and ruined everything! I could just kill you!" Remus then decided to take the cake, every one was watching, the word traveled quickly, and people were running out of the dorms, and the bathrooms.

"Take this, you...you....RAT!" Remus swung at him, and hit him in the gut, not hard, but Peter faked out, and dropped to the floor.

"OOOO, and Ahhhh's" came from the every growing audience in the Common room. Peter got up, and tried to hit Remus, but Remus hit him again, and he fell.

Jade ran into the girls bathroom, yelling, "Peter and Remus are fighting!" They all dropped their make up, hair brushes, and nail files, and ran down the common room. Jade came out quietly, and winked at James and Sirius.

James nodded, and he and Sirius went into the bathroom. Taking one mirror at a time, the mumbled "Sonhoruem, miskus, mafe. Fracturus, bodus, face" and watched their own image change ever so slightly. It took them no more than a couple of minutes to fix all the mirrors. Once they had checked them, James knocked on the bathroom door. A knocking came back, and they exited.

Jade smiled at them. They both ran down the stairs, making to break up the fight between Peter and Remus. Everyone looked quite entertained, indeed.

"Hey!" Sirius said, "Hey, stop this, you two!" James went and held Peter back, Sirius took Remus. Moony was having way too much fun, and decided to struggle against Sirius's tight grip.

"What's going on?" James asked.

No one said anything for a while, then Remus spoke.

"That ugly bastard!"

"What happened?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing," Remus shrugged, freeing himself from Sirius, "nothing, just leave me be. And keep this ugly prat out of my way!" he said, pointing at Peter and leaving the common room.

"Are you alright?" James asked Peter.

He nodded. Mission accomplished.  


The other bathrooms were a bit more challenging. Slytherin would be the most difficult, so they decided to leave that one for last. They had to pull out some old fashioned tricks to get the ones in the corridors. Jade took some dungbombs and throw them in the stalls. Girls scrambled out of there as quick as the could. And the smell carried through the corridor, so there was no one there, except James and Sirius, who got in the bathrooms, and out as fast as possible, covering their noses with wet rags.

Now the other three common rooms were left. The Invisibity cloak was needed for these three jobs. The decided they would do Hufflepuff first.

Sirius spotted Hannah, a girl he had dated for a short while, and followed her into her common room, not being seen or heard. James and Sirius were perfect together; their movements in sync. They could read each other's minds, it was perfect.

Never having been inside Hufflepuff, they didn't know where anything was. So the just followed Hannah, and luckily she went in the bathroom.

James nodded to Sirius, who ripped off the dungbomb pin, opened the bathroom door, and tossed it in. Then the two of them leaned on the wall, and waited for the girls to poor out. And boy did they. In not more than thirty seconds, ten girls came running out of the bathroom, complaining that some one had too much rich food over Christmas. Seconds later, James and Sirius entered, preformed the incantation, and left, never being seen.

Ravenclaw was done in the exact same way, but Slytherin, that was a different story.

Back in their third year, Sirius and James had snuck into the Slytherin bathrooms and rigged all the toilets to back fire. The two were indicted for the crime, and since then the Slytherins had been very wary of their toilets, and wary of their two greatest enemies.

So roles were reversed. Because Remus had so much fun, and did a spectacular job, he was sent to pick a fight with James, just outside the Slytherin's Common room. Surely, all Slytherins would enjoy seeing James get the snot beat out of him, so the whole room would no doubt be vacated.

Noting that no teachers were to be found, Remus started down the cold corridor, looking miffed about something. James was walking the opposite direction, coming towards Remus, also looking upset. And then it happened, the two met.

James shoved Remus into the damp wall that covered the Slytherin door. He made a loud "THUD" as he hit the wall. It was very hard for the two of them to keep a strait face.

Remus swung back at James, and pushed him on the damp wall, making another loud, "Thud" James was trying to think of what to argue about, if anyone asked. He went to hit Lupin hard in the stomach, and he connected as Remus went backwards into a curious Slytherin fourth year.

"You stupid GIT!" James yelled at Remus when he knew that now there was an audience.

The Slytherin turned around and yelled, "FIGHT!" And in no time at all, the Slytherin house was cleared, and had made a huge circle around James and Remus. The two of them had practiced fighting, so that they didn't hurt each other too bad, but they both agreed that a little pain would bring them great enjoyment in the end.

James swung at Remus' head, but he ducked, and pummeled him in the gut. It hurt like hell, and James doubled back, holding his stomach.

Slytherins loved this, and starting cheering, "Lupin! Lupin!" and "Kick him, get him, Lupin."

James got back up, and ran for Remus, biting his lip as not to laugh. He rammed Remus into the opposite wall, and punched him repeatedly in the gut. The crowd hated this, but the movement from one side of the corridor to the other was necessary.

Sirius, who had been standing alone in the cloak just 20 feet or so from the large crowd, slid past the group and entered the still open door to the common room. It looked completely empty. Sirius slinked down the stairs into the girls bathrooms, and noted that it was empty, just like the rest of it. Quickly, yet quietly he preformed the jinx on all mirrors, and he left. But wouldn't it be fun to do the same to the guys?

So he went across the way and entered the boys' bathroom. There was just one problem, Snape was in there.

Snape looked to see who had opened the door, and thought it very peculiar that there was no one in the room with him. Slowly, Sirius moved to the side of the door, not moving a single thing. He stopped breathing, Snape came to the door, and opened it.

"Severus!" A young Slytherin said, "Potter and Lupin are fighting just outside!"

As if Christmas had come twice this year, Snape smiled and ran out of the bathroom.

Breathing again, Sirius ran to all the mirrors, and jinxed them, then got out of the bathroom, through the open common room door, and passed the large gaggle of Slytherins, cheering the fight.

James made a connection with Remus' jaw, and sent him back a few feet. Remus charged James and punched him in the nose. James came back at him, and flipped him on his back, landing on the floor much to hard. Remus showed pain, but James could not relent.

Sirius, having stuffed the cloak in his black cloak pocket, came running over to them, shoving his way through.

"Get out of my way! James, Remus! What the hell are you two doing!" He got to the middle and pulled James off of Remus, and held him back. James gave Remus an encouraging look, slight but definite. Remus got the hint, and punched him in the stomach. 

The crowd went wild.

"That's enough!" Sirius yelled, while holding the two apart.

They really out did themselves, Sirius thought. James had a bloody lip and black eye starting, Remus had a nose bleed and a swollen jaw.

"What got into the two of you?" Sirius asked sincerely. They weren't supposed to kill each other. "Well?" he asked again.

James and Remus both looked at Sirius. He could tell it was hard for them not to burst out laughing.

"Let's get out of here before a teacher comes, shall we?" and taking the two by the collars of their shirts, he escorted them out of the crowd, and down the corridor.

"My goodness. Am I going to have to keep you two separated?" he asked sarcastically, once out of earshot of the Slytherins.

James smiled. Once they rounded the corner, the three of them ran all the way back to Gryffindor tower, laughing their heads off.

"They really hate you, James!" Remus said, as the came to the portrait of the fat lady.

"I'll say they do. Did you hear the way they were cheering you? Like you were some kind of Greek hero or something."

"You both did excellent," Sirius said, "You'd think you really wanted blood, with the way you two were going at it."

"A real stress reliever, I'm telling you," James said. Remus nodded and smiled. Still they hadn't entered the tower.

"Sirius, go in, why are we waiting here?" James asked.

"Um..." Sirius started, "What are we gonna tell them? I mean, about you two?" he asked, pointing to the portrait.

"Uh..." Remus started. "That's a mighty good question."

"Yeah..." James agreed. "Maybe we should clean up first."

"Good idea, where?" Remus asked.

"Myrtle's Bathroom, right James? Isn't that where you go to get care?"

"Ha ha ha," James replied unenthusiastically. "Actually I think that's a good idea, Remus, let's go."  
  
  


After cleaning all the blood off, and working magic to lessen the swelling, James and Remus looked almost normal. But not normal enough to pull it off. Certainly the entire school would learn of the fights, so now they had to think of why. After much debate, they decided that it had to be an event that occurred over Christmas, but what they didn't know.

Both of them had steady girl friends, so they couldn't really use jealousy. So insults were all they had left. The exchanged words over the holiday, and today, James insulted Remus's mother, and visa versa. It seemed like a good plan.

Of course, as they suspected, people had heard the rumor. So, in accord to their friendship, the two made up in front of all Gryffindor's present, shook hands and smiled at each other.  


The next morning, Lily was expected to arrive, and James couldn't have been more pleased. He spruced himself up, tried combing his hair, picking out the right shirt, with the help of Sirius of course, and conjuring a bouquet of flowers for her. He almost ran down to Hogsmeade station, and was glad to see that the train had not yet arrived.

"Hiya, James!" shouted some very pleased young first years, all waving enthusiastically at their Quidditch idol.

He, of course, waved back, and smiled. Just then the Hogwarts express rolled into the station. James looked around to see who else was waiting, and to his dismay, he saw Snape, who was looking daggers at him.

James did a backward nod, or don, to him and smiled insincerely. Snape just turned away. 

When the train came to a stop, half the students of the school poured out of the train. James jumped up on a bench and started scouring the mass of people for a short red head. And then she came out of one of the end compartments, looking very pink indeed.

He got off the bench, parted the crowd and ran to see her. Once she saw him, she smiled and ran to him, like a scene in a romance movie. She jumped into his outstretched arms and held him tight.

"God I missed you," he said to her.

"So did I," she said, pulling away and looking at him. "I got sun burned. I should have expected that."

"Did you have a good time, at least?" James asked, hoping she would kiss him soon.

"Mostly....no" she rolled her eyes, and put her arm around his waste and started back for the castle. "My parents yelled at me for putting a hex on Petunia, but I could've swore she spit in my drink!" she said defensively.

James tried to say something, but she continued on. "And she brought her boyfriend, the joke that he was, even though we were told it was a family trip! I tried to be nice to him, but he was so rude, James, just so rude to me. He's one of those people that is only nice to you if you have a lot of money, you know. Gosh, I don't even remember the fat oaf's name. What was it.....? Viktor? Vinny, no...Vernon! That's it, Vernon! What kind of people name their child, Vernon? How do you have a baby Vernon? Gross. You should have seen him James, he was a slob, just as gross as they come. He talked about working at this really boring business the entire time. Oh, and you should have seen the way Petunia was looking at him! Gag me! Like he was a god or something. She kept saying, 'Isn't he wonderful' and all. Ew, ew, ew! And if you think that was gross, then they kissed!" Lily did a very funny facial expression, "Oh my goodness, I am so glad to be out of that! She must have said a load of trash and lies about me to him. Not that I care, but come on. Am I a really bad person? NO! I tried to be nice to her, but her attitude, atrocious." Lily rolled her eyes, then sighed. It sounded as though she was glad she had gotten it out of her system.

"It was beautiful though," she said, halfway up to the castle, looking up at him. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, stopping in the snow and looking at him. "And you got me flowers. And all I did was complain to you. I'm so sorry."

"Not to worry," he said calmly, "I am just so glad to have you back. I missed you so much."

She smiled, and went to kiss him. "So what kind of trouble did you get into while I was away?" she asked, grinning broadly.

"Me? Trouble? I don't know what you're talking about. I've been a good boy, Lily, just like you asked."

She laughed, and kissed him again. He was so euphoric that he picked her up, and carried her to the castle, never once taking his eyes off of her. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Maybe it is true. But James and Lily had only missed each other, there was no possible or conceivable way that they could love each other any more. 


	10. Lord Voldemort

*** The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn' to be sold, reproduced or taken as true. The main characters and most locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. No copyright infringement is intended.***

Part Ten: Lord Voldemort  
Darkness will be overshadowed by Love."  


"No, sweat heart, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping drought. Don't worry, though, you'll get it soon enough," Lily said to a very stressed first year, who had left over potions homework from December.

"I'm just terrible at potions, Lily" he said, putting his hand to his face.

"Don't worry about it, sweetie, if you have any more trouble, I'll be here tomorrow, and the next day, and so on and so forth. You can ask me anything about potions or any other subject."

"Really, any thing?"

"Really. Now why don't you go upstairs and sleep, it's getting late," she said looking at her watch. It was in fact approaching twelve, almost Saturday. Lily yawned, and leaned her head back on the couch in front of the warm fire. It was good to be back, she liked the cosiness of this room, the friends she had, and James above all.

"Goodnight Lily, and thanks for all your help," said the first year, as he picked up his books and headed upstairs.

"Goodnight Sean, dear."

She was very tired, she had a big day, after all. She just started to pack her things when she heard footsteps on the stairs. She looked up to see who it was.

"You never call me 'sweat heart.'"

"No, that's because I call you hansom," she said to James, as he took a seat next to her.

"That's right, I keep forgetting. Bad memory. You teaching potions now?"

"Oh, Sean was having some trouble remembering some things. He's so cute," she said, leaning her head on her hand.

"Cute?"

"Yeah, cute. You were cute when you were eleven, too. Of course not as innocent as he is, but so adorable with you little glasses, blue eyes, messy black hair."

"Simply irresistible," He said smiling.

"That's not what I said," she replied, slyly. 

"No, but that's what you meant," he said, quietly taking her hand.

"Sorry, James, but no. Why are you down here any way? It's getting very late."

He smiled, raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Honestly?" he asked, silently.

"Yes, I like honesty. It suits you."

"Well, honestly, I came down here to..."

"To...?" she asked, smirking, moving in closer to him.

"To kiss you, long and good."

She giggled when he said this, and then leaned on him. He laughed back, and enclosed her in his arms, and lay back on the couch, her head resting on his chest.

"Think you're going to get lucky, do you?" she asked, placing her hands around his neck, pulling her self up so her eyes were just above his.

"Hmmm..."

"Oh my goodness," came a familiar voice, coming down the stairs. "It can't be true, James and Lily are kissing?" he said, sarcastically. "Stop the Presses! Mark the date and time, ladies and gentlemen, the world is coming to an end!"

"Sirius, it's midnight go to sleep and leave us alone," James said looking at the stairs, and seeing Sirius coming down.

"James I'm hurt. All these years and all you have to say is that?" He came down into the room, with his hands behind his back, smiling. 

"What are you up too?" James asked, exasperated. 

"I am doing all a favor," he replied, and he took his hands from behind his back, which had the Invisibity cloak and the other held the Marauder's map. "I figure the common room couch isn't the greatest place, you know. Certainly the most comfortable, but not the most private. Some poor naive and innocent first year could come down here and see you two in a lip lock and completely freak out. And then they would come to me and start asking me questions about life, and where babies come from, and so forth. So I think you should look elsewhere."

"How thoughtful of you," James said unimpressed.

"Yes, well. I have looked at the map, and it looks like Myrtle's bathroom is free, I know that's a favorite spot of yours. I personally recommend the astronomy tower, though it gets a bit chilly, or just a common classroom, you know."

Lily laid her head back on James's chest, and closed her eyes. James kissed her, and stroked her hair.

"Or perhaps you could just stay here..." Sirius said smiling, sitting on a chair opposite them.

"Do you want to go?" James whispered into her ear. She looked up and smiled placidly.

"Do you?"

"I asked you first."

"Well, then I'd have to say....yes," and she sat up, got off the couch, and gave her hand to him.

"Ah," Sirius cooed. "Okay, Princess Lily, here's the map and the cloak."

"Thank you, Sirius," she replied in a mock formality, taking both items. James stood up, smiled at Sirius, and put his arm around her shoulders. They began to walk out of the room when Sirius spoke.

"You two behave, now. Be back before sun up. If you find a beautiful women out there, searching for a mysterious man, would you--"

"We'll send her your way, Sirius," James replied.

"You know," Lily said "there are girls out there that like you very much. You just don't see them."

"Who?" he asked curiously.

"I can't tell you who. You already know them, anyway. Just keep your eyes open," she turned around, and disappeared under the cloak.

Sirius stood there for a while, then turned and sat back into his deep chair in front of the fire. He had a book with him, _Dark Forces Defeated_ a simple fiction, and he opened it, not being tired and not having anything better to do with his time.

He was just starting to get into it, when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He looked up and saw that Jade was making her way down, book in hand.

Sirius smiled a little, "Can't sleep?" he asked.

She looked startled to see him there. She smiled, "No, just not tired. The girls don't want the light on though, so I have to read down here. What about you?"

"The same. I just kicked James and Lily out."

"Kissing, again, were they?" she asked, taking a seat on the couch.

"Yeah, yet again. Of course I say that like I am bitter or something, but, I really am happy for them."

"Me too," she replied, opening her book.

"Jade?" Sirius asked.

Jade looked up, and smiled brightly. "Yes?" she answered.

"Where do you live?"

"Where do I live?" she asked confused, her smile dropping.

"Yeah. I know were all my other friends live, just not you."

"Oh," she said, looking back at her book. "I live just outside London."

"Ah."

She looked at him, as if wanting to say something, but just stared. She closed her book, and started to get up. 

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Up, I am tired."

"Did I say something wrong?" he asked, starting to get out of his chair.

"No, you didn't say anything. I just realized, sitting there, that I am tired. Good night," and she left, just as soon as she came.

Sirius sat back down, and mumbled under his breath, "Women."  
  
  
  
  


The next morning was very eventful. All four boys were up early, and in the great hall before anyone. They didn't sit in their usual seats, either. That sat nearest they could to the entrance, so better to see the faces of all the girls coming in.

So far, though, only guys were coming in. Yawning, scratching, and tripping lazily over stuff as usual. Then Jade entered, almost running. She was grinning from ear to ear.

James motioned for her to come over. She sat down next to Sirius, and bent in closer to the table, so as not to be heard.

"So...how's it working?" James asked.

"Perfectly!" Jade said, almost laughing. "Oh my goodness, this is the best and most clever thing the four of you have come up with! You should have heard all of them this morning. Liz can't stop looking at her backside in the mirror, examining it from every angle. A couple of 4th years kept saying they had gained so much over the break, and Lily, oh my she's the best. She has spent 15 minutes examining her stomach from every angle possible, then looking down at it then back in the mirror. All of them kept asking if they really looked that bad."

"What did you tell them?" Sirius asked, smiling.

"Well, I said 'I look the same' and they all were so disappointed as if they were hoping something was wrong with the mirrors. Poor dears."

"First victim," Remus said, as a seventh year Ravenclaw came into the Hall. She was looking around at all the tables, and when she saw the five at the Gryffindor table looking at her, she covered her face and sat down as quickly as possible.

"Shannon O'Deere," Sirius said knowledgeably. "A bit of a snit, if you ask me."

Then another girl, this time a Hufflepuff, who was very cute, came scuttling into the Hall. She looked as though she had been crying. She had many sweaters tied around her waist, and sat down as quickly as possible at her table. 

Then all of a sudden, a flood of girls came into the Hall. Just by the tone in the air, the five of them could tell the Mirror's had been successfully jinxed.

Liz came running over to them. Remus got up and kissed her, but she was a bit distant.

"Do I look....um...." she hesitated. She went over to Jade, and whispered in her ear.

"No," Jade said to her as she looked at Liz's bum. "I don't think so."

She went back over to Remus, kissed him again, and sat down next to him, though she still looked as though she was on another planet.

Sirius looked at Remus, who was finding it hard to not burst out laughing. Then Lily came in, her arms around her stomach. James got up to greet her, but she just asked him flat out, "Do I look fat to you, James?"

"No," he said. But she wasn't satisfied.

"Are you sure? Because my stomach looks a little...chubby."

"Outrageous," James said to her. "You're beautiful," he took her hand and led her to the table. Jade had to bite her lip.

When their breakfast appeared on their plates, neither Lily or Liz touched their food.

Jade, however, ate like there was no tomorrow, as did the other four boys. James was about to start on a piece of toast, when Sirius gave him a good jab in the ribs and motioned for him to look at the doors.

Snape came into the great hall, looking more surly than ever, his hand constantly going over his long hooked nose.

James snorted with laughter so loudly that the entire Gryffindor table looked at him. Sirius was in tears, and had to put his head down to keep from being seen. Jade was giggling profusely, and Peter was beat red and trembling. Remus didn't have to look, but he did. Once he saw how awkward Snape looked, he burst.

Lily couldn't take it any more.

"That's it! What's going on? There is something very strange going on here, and I want to know what it is."

The five of them looked at her as if she came out of a mental institution.

"Lily, nothing is going on," Remus said.

"Oh yeah?" she asked, "Then why are you all laughing?"

"Lily," James said, trying to sound reasonable, "We were laughing at Snape. He looks, well...weirder today. It's just funny."

"So there's nothing going on?" She asked.

"No, there is nothing going on," James said. This was true. They had done the prank yesterday, so there really wasn't anything going on right now.

"You promise?" she asked.

"Yes, I promise," he said, looking into her eyes.

"Oh, alright, I guess this means that your mirror prank doesn't work," she said, taking a sip of her drink.

All five of them dropped their food and goblets, and looked at Lily. She was smiling.

"W...What are you talking about?" Remus asked, trying to sound curious about the whole thing.

"Oh come now," Lily said, putting down her drink and folding her arms on the table. "What kind of person do you think I am. I have known the five of you for six and a half years, you can't fool me, I know when there's something going on. It is a bit cliche to use Jade as the inside worker, you did it in September, Sirius. And I know I could never have rolls on my stomach, my metabolism is much to high, and Liz's bum looks just as it did when we left: small. Not to mention, that the entire hall is in a buzz about how horrible they look, and it's not just a coincidence that you four arrived earlier than everyone else. And it has your paw prints all over the job."

Jade smiled. "You won't tell anyone else, will you?"

Lily and Liz both shook their heads. "Oh no," Liz replied, "It's much to fun to see other's suffer!"

On Monday, school began. Back to the daily grind of too much homework, having to tolerate James's militant Quidditch strategies, and battles with Snape. The mirror hex went above and beyond all their expectations. Girls of all houses were not eating, wearing way too much makeup, or layering clothing to hide rolls of fat that weren't really there. Even Snape had taken to cover his nose when he sat down, and Sirius caught him looking down it at breakfast on Monday morning.

"Ah," Remus said looking up at the grey ceiling of the Great Hall, "Mail's here."

And in swooped hundreds of different breeds of owls, all carrying packages and letters to the students of Hogwarts. A large eagle owl dropped a parcel with a letter on top of Sirius's head.

"Ouch," he said, rubbing the top of it, "Damn bird."

Then Nimbus, James's great horned owl, came soaring in and dropped a letter on his plate. He opened it, and began to read.

"He want's to know how it's going?" he informed them all.

"Who, your dad?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, want's a play by play of the whole set up, and results." James took out some parchment and an ink well and quill and started writing very quickly.

Then Lily came in, flanked by Liz and Jade. Lily approached James and kissed him, though he was still writing quickly.

"Good morning, Love," he said to her. She smiled and returned the address. Remus got up and kissed Liz, and then she sat down next to him, pulling out some last minute homework.

"Morning, Sirius," Jade said to Sirius. He looked up and smiled at her, "Hey," he responded. 

Sirius, though, seemed quite preoccupied with his parcel. He held it in his hand, un-opened, not quite sure, it seemed, with what to do with it. He kept examining it from all angles, and attracted the attention of all of his friends.

James looked up at him, and grinned, "What are you doing?"

"My dad sent it and--"

"Ah, say no more," James said.

"What, I don't know what you are talking about," Jade said.

"Every year, just after Christmas, Dad sends me a package. It's always a joke, two years ago the box exploded when I opened the tape. So I always have to be careful."

Just then, a tall pretty blonde, from Ravenclaw, came over towards the seven of them. She moved for Sirius, and ran her finger across his shoulders as she passed him. When he turned to see who it was, she kept on walking and smiled devilishly at him.

Well, it didn't take long for Sirius to get up and go to her. He ran and caught up with her before she could leave the great hall.

"Signs of a new year," Remus said shaking his head but laughing. "Leave it to him to make a new year's resolution like that."

James looked at Sirius. The girl he was with was a sixth year, and played chaser for Ravenclaw. As he recalled, she was very aggressive. She was blushing and laughing, Sirius was making some funny body motions, which had obviously made her laugh. James turned around to face the rest of the table, and was surprised by what he saw.

Lily and Liz got up abruptly encouraging Jade to do the same. 

"Jade, let's go to class, alright?" Lily said, sounding very soothing and calm. Jade looked as though her insides had fallen out. Remus and Peter noticed too.

"Jade," James said to her. She looked up, looking like she could cry at any second. "Are you alright?"

"Don't say anything," Lily said to the three of them, as they got up and gathered their things. "Don't any of you mention this to anyone, you hear me, no one knows about this. She want's it that way," Lily turned from them, and went to Jade. Liz and Lily ushered her out of the hall, and down the corridor.

"I. Have. A. Date," Sirius said, smiling as he came over to the three of them. "Annika Kincade. Tall, slender, beautiful, smart, nice smile, and--"

"Thanks for the run down," James said, clearly cutting him off. "We all saw her, Sirius. Let's just go to class."

Sirius gave him a questioning look, then he looked at the other three, who had the same expression. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, let's just go to class," James said.

"Where did they all go to?" he asked, pointing to the empty seats across from him.

"Bathroom," James lied quickly. "Let's just go to class. The bell's going to ring soon." James started walking by himself, then Remus and Peter followed. Sirius ran to catch up.

Lily, Liz and Jade were all seated in their usual spots. Jade was composed, looking like there was nothing wrong. Liz and Lily were seated on either side of her, whispering to her.

The four of them went to sit behind them, ready for their lesson in Charms.

Short, squeaky, Professor Flitwick came scuttling into the classroom, behind various large books, which covered his face. He placed them on his desk, and then proceeded to his chair and climbed on top of all the volumes to reach the top.

"Today," he said in a very high pitch tone, "we will be discussing some very complex charms, used only by the most skilled wizards. The first I will be discussing is a charm that has many irregularities. It asks for those involved to obey special circumstances, otherwise it is futile. The charm I am referring to is the Fidelius Charm, used to hide wizards from the dark forces. It is becoming more commonly used, these days, I am sorry to say, but is extremely effective."

Sirius kept elbowing James in class, and begging him to tell him what was wrong, but James denied that there was anything wrong.

"You are the worst liar in the world," Sirius whispered to him, "Please tell me what's up. I can feel something in the atmosphere, you have to tell me, James."

"There's nothing to tell," James kept insisting. "Just pretend to pay attention at least. Flitwick keeps looking up here."

"The Charm can only be practiced with a secret keeper, who keeps the location of those in hiding in utter secrecy. The draw back is, the secret keeper cannot have someone keeping his location a secret, nor can he stay with those he is protecting. He is, in a word, defenseless and vulnerable to anyone," Flitwick said, repeating the last lines for people to copy down.

Just then, Professor Dumbledore came in. Heads turned, and everyone who was whispering or gossiping, silenced. He looked very grim, they all thought. As he entered the class, he glanced up in James and Sirius's direction, then glanced quickly back.

Flitwick jumped off his books, and his desk and scurried over to meet Dumbledore halfway across the room.

Dumbledore almost kneeled to whisper into Flitwick's ear.

James and Sirius exchanged nervous glances. Lily, Liz and Jade all turned around and looked at the four, as did the rest of the class.

"No one says anything," James whispered to the other three, hardly moving his lips. He must have been upset about the mirrors, which was strange, because usually Dumbledore got quite a chuckle out of their pranks.

Whatever Dumbledore told Flitwick, it upset him. The little professor put his hand to his open mouth, looking stunned. Dumbledore stood up, and glanced up at James.

"James, I need to have a word with you," he said solemnly. Sirius looked at him horrified.

James got up slowly, everyone in class was staring at him, watching his every move. He started for the edge of the desk row when Dumbledore stopped him.

"Bring your things, James," he said. Fearing the worst, James went back to his seat and collected his things, trying his best to look composed, and went toward Dumbledore who guided him out of the class. Before they left, James could have sworn that Flitwick gave him a sympathetic smile.

Dumbledore walked somewhat quickly through the corridor, putting his hand on James back, giving him an extra nudge. James tried looking into his face, but he looked strait, and didn't say a thing. James didn't know what to do, whether to say something or not. He decided to take his chances.

"Does this have anything to do with the mirrors?" he asked quietly.

"I wish it did, James," was all he said the entire way up to his office.

"Bertie Botts," he said to the gargoyle, which moved quickly to the side, revealing a long spiral stair case. James had been here before, only when he was in deep trouble, however. They started the long journey up the staircase, but it seemed like hours before they got to his office.

"Sit down, James," he said, motioning to him the large armchair in front of his desk. Dumbledore walked to the other side of his desk, but he did not sit down, instead he leaned his hands on the top of his chair. He looked very pensive.

James just started at him, he put his hands together, and sat motionless. He had never seen Dumbledore like this.

Dumbledore took a deep breath, sighed and looked back at James. "I don't know how to say this to you. I have never said this to anyone."

"Said what?" James asked nervously.

"James," he began, looking into his eyes, "Your father was killed this morning by Voldemort. Not more than 20 minutes ago," he paused to look at James's face, "I am so very sorry."

James had heard each word he had said, yet somehow they just passed through him. It couldn't be true, he thought. It was impossible. James shook his head at Dumbledore, "No, that's not true," he said. "It can't be true."

"I know it's hard, son, but it's true. He put up quite a fight, I promise you. They just found him, the Dark mark was flying over head."

"You're lying," James said, anger rising in his voice. "You're lying to me! I just got a letter from him this morning, and he's fine! He's fine!" He stood up, and started pacing the room. Dumbledore moved from behind his desk and reached for him, but James drew away.

"Leave me alone, you liar!" he shouted, "There's no point in killing him, he didn't do anything. I don't believe you at all. No. Never. I just saw him, and he was fine!"

Just then, the office door opened, and Professor McGonagall came in. She held a tissue to her face, and she lacked the strong firm look of composure she usually wore.

James stared at her, his eyes rather wide. McGonagall came further into the room, and looked at Dumbledore, then back at James. As she looked at him, two tears rolled down her face. "Oh James," she said, it was the first time she had said his first name, "I am so sorry."

It was as if seeing her tears was seeing his father's lifeless body. It confirmed the truth. His father was dead.

James stood there shaking his head. Then out of his control, he began to cry, the first time in his life. McGonagall moved towards him, and reached out. He had never really felt sadness, he never had to. He went for McGonagall, thinking there was nothing better to do. She enclosed him in her arms, and started mumbling something to him, but he didn't understand what she was saying. Not a single word.  


"I wonder what happened to him," Sirius said, as they walked from the Charms corridor.

"I hope he's alright," Lily said thoughtfully. 

"Do you think he got yelled at? Detention, expulsion?" Peter asked, not helping the situation in the slightest.

"Don't be such a prat, Peter," Remus said, "He's probably fine. He and Dumbledore have always been great friends. Perhaps he was trying to kid around with him or something."

"Then why did he look so serious when he came in," Liz asked.

"And why did Flitwick have that startled look?" Jade asked.

"Maybe we should just go find him, and asked him what happened," Sirius suggested. But that wasn't necessary.

Jackson, the third year boy who wanted to play Seeker in the coming year, ran up to Sirius, looking quite shocked.

"Did you hear the news? Where's James? Is he leaving then?" he asked very quickly.

"What are you on about?" Sirius asked.

"You haven't heard," he said, surprised. He held up a paper, and showed it to them. "You-know-who has killed Byron Potter, just this morning. The Daily Prophet came out with a special edition today."

Sirius snatched the paper, not believing his eyes. But it was true. On the cover of the Daily Prophet was a picture of Byron, and underneath was the story of his death. Everyone gathered around Sirius, and read the article.

Sirius had known Byron his whole life, he was like an uncle to him. It felt as though his insides had fallen out. What James must be feeling right now, he thought. Lily covered her mouth and started to cry quietly, the others just looked shocked. 

Sirius turned around and ran to Gryffindor tower, the other five following behind him.

"Bewilderment!" he shouted to the portrait of the Fat lady, who swung open rather fast. Sirius ran into the common room, and up the stairs, skipping every other one. He got to his dorm door, and opened it, the others just behind him. 

James was in the room, but facing the other way, packing his things hurriedly. He did not turn around to face them when they came in.

For a moment, the six of them just stood there, not really knowing what to say. Lily moved forward for him, Sirius followed, but motioned for the other four to remain where they were.

"James," she said quietly, stretching her hand outward, and placing it on his shoulder.

"I want to be left alone," he said, his voice quavering, "just leave me alone." 

Sirius looked at Lily, who looked back, her eyes were tearing. "James, I'm so sorry," Sirius said comfortingly.

James turned around, and looked upon them. His eyes were red and puffy underneath, lost of the sparkle and mystery that they usually conveyed. He didn't say anything to them, he just kept on packing.

Lily put her hand through his hair, and down his neck and back, but he still remained silent. Instead of calming him down, as Lily intended, it only made him worse. A single tear rolled down his soft cheek, and he turned away, so none of them would see. He dropped his stuff, and put his hands on his hips, and faced the wall, turning his back to them. Another tear came, then another.

"Could you please all leave me alone now," he said quietly, but rather composed. Lily moved closer, and put her arms around his waist, and leaned her head on his back. This made more tears fall. He looked down at her small hands, and he took his own off his hips, and put them on hers.

Sirius turned around to face Remus, Peter, Jade and Liz, who all looked very sad and concerned. With one nod, he signified to them to leave the room. They all nodded, and left.

"Do you want to talk?" Lily asked him.

"There's nothing to say," he replied calmly.

"Come here and sit down with me," she said, pulling him towards a bed. He didn't resist her, he sat down, and she sat next to him. Sirius took the other side.

"I still can't believe it," he said, wiping a tear away. "I honestly can't. But I know it's true."

Lily and Sirius just sat there silently, listening to him. For about five minutes, no one said anything. Lily took his hand, and kissed his face. He turned to her, and hugged her tight. "I loved him so much," he said, though it was muffled as he said it into her neck.

Professor McGonagall came into the room then. She knocked to show she was there. Lily looked at her, still holding James in a tight grip. Sirius too, turned to look at her, puzzled by her presence.

"James," she said, moving closer into the room. "I am sorry to have to pull you away like this, but the train has arrived to take you home."

James looked at her, still clutching Lily in his arms. He nodded, and looked down into her spectacular green eyes, enhanced by the tears.

"I love you, James. So very, very much. You know that, right?" she asked, taking his face in her hands, and kissing him tenderly on the lips. He closed his eyes and nodded. Then released her and stood up.

"Okay," he said to McGonagall, "I'll be down in a second."

She nodded, and left.

"I'll be gone for a week or so. Mum wants me there with her, and I want to go and be with her. So I guess I'll be seeing you in a while," he stated to them. He moved for his trunk, then stopped and said to Sirius, "You keep on Quidditch. You're in charge now...he was so happy when I made captain, he won't want us to lose the cup this year."

Sirius made all efforts to choke down his emotions, and smiled instead. He moved towards James, hugged him, slapping his back.

"You're gonna be Okay. I know you will. Take good care of you mother, James. I'll work them to death, I promise," he said, then pulled him away, and shook him softly. "I promise we won't lose the cup."

"Thanks," he said, trying to smile. He picked up his trunk, Sirius took one end, and they took it down to Hogsmeade station, where the train awaited. 

They loaded the heavy trunk, and saw James inside. Lily kissed him goodbye one last time, Sirius ruffled his hair, and they saw him off.  
  
  


He arrived at Platform Nine and three quarters around noon, got off the train, and pushed his cart through the barrier landing on the Triverton Train Station in Devonshire. Waiting for him, were Mr. and Mrs. Black, trying to muster smiles when they saw him.

"The Ministry has been kind enough to give us a car, to take you home," Mitch said. Jen was crying to much to talk properly. James nodded, and tried to hide all his emotions. He didn't want them to see him cry. Mitch helped him with his trunk, and took it to the car. A driver was waiting patiently, and put the trunk into the back. James and the Blacks filed into the backseat, and drove to 32 Lion's Way, Godric's Hollow.

When they pulled up to the house, James opened the door before the car came to a full and complete stop, and jumped out. He ran to the front door, and opened it.

His mother was sitting alone in the main living room, by the fire, crying very loudly. She looked up when she heard the door open, and when she saw James, she stood.

"Oh, James," she cried, her arms outstretched. He ran to her, and held her so tight. She was absolutely distraught, and remained that way all day and into the night.

She cried for days after that, all through the funeral, which Sirius attended, through the reception, and a few days after that. Nothing could comfort her, nothing at all.

After six days, James started to relax. Though his father's life was cut short, James knew he had loved every second of it. While looking through some of his dad's old things, one day, he came across an envelope, with "James" written in Byron's very tidy handwriting. James turned the envelope and broke the wax seal, shaped like a lion. Inside was a letter addressed to him.

_"To my son,_

_Words cannot describe how very proud I am of you. Even though you have always given me and your mother a lesson in discipline, and sometimes some quite nasty headaches over your constant rule 'bending' as you would say, I could not be prouder. From the moment you were born, I loved you more than anything. Just looking into your eyes made me sure that you were a great person, and so you are. I remember the day you took your very first steps, and when you fell, you didn't cry, but giggled, and got up and did it again. And then there was the first broomstick we got you for Christmas! Oh how you loved that small piece of wood. You flew around the house like you were king of the world, and so you were. I knew you would play Quidditch, but you went beyond my hopes when you were unanimously chosen to be captain. You made me so proud that day. I told everyone I knew, "James is Captain," none of them looked surprised._

_You are meant to do great things, son. Great things. I have felt it and known it for years now. Everyone will know who you are. I have never met anyone so noble, brave and chivalrous as you are, and I'm not saying that because you are my son. I mean that with every fiber of my being. You're going to be a great wizard, James, a great wizard._

_I leave everything I own to you, I know you have the cloak. Pass it on to your son, or sons if you are lucky. It has been in our family for generations, keep the Potter legacy going strong. There is also a vault at Gringotts, full of money that your mother and I have been saving for you. Take my advice, and buy a house, raise a family and be happy, as happy as I am. There is also another vault, one that has raised some controversy. My father bequeathed it to me, but there is no key. He was unable to open it, I was unable to open it. There is no lock, just a door. The Goblins say it was established around 1000 years ago, and hasn't been opened since, and they cannot open it. It has also been in the family for generations, but to no avail. Good luck with it._

_I will leave you with some words of advice. I don't know when you will get this letter, maybe you are 30, maybe you are 20. If you haven't already done so, then listen good. I liked Lily very much. There is something about her that stands for Grace, Poise, and Love. If you haven't already, then ask her to marry you, and marry her as soon as you can. She is your match, I have no doubt. My greatest achievement was meeting your mother, and the fact that she took me in, for the man I was, is so truly Devine. I married her right out of school, so that I could spend as much time with her as I could. It was the best decision of my life._

_And take care of your friend, Sirius. The two of you have been joined at the hip since you were a year old, and I think you ought to stay that way, just look after him. He's a bit cocky at times, but has a great heart._

_Take care of your mother for me, and try to stay out of too much trouble, but do keep Hogwarts on it's toes, it makes things more interesting._

_With no regrets, and so much pride and love,_

_Dad_"  
  
  


James folded the letter, put it back into the envelope. Just then, his mother came into the room. He smiled at her, and she came down and sat next to him, looking like she felt just a little better.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her, smiling.

She smiled sadly. "Did I ever tell you how we met?"

"No. I don't think I ever asked."

"Well," she said smiling at her memory, "I thought he was the cutest boy in school. He had the cutest hair, and the greatest laugh, so naturally I couldn't get the nerve to speak to him. Then one day, my best friend and I got into a huge fight. I was very upset, and I moped into the common room in the dead of night to sulk like a normal teenage girl, battling adolescence and acne...anyway. Byron came down stairs and asked what was wrong. I shook my head, said that nothing was bothering me, even though I said it through the sniffles. And then he came over to me, kneeled down and took my hands and he said 'If you don't tell me what's wrong, then I'll have to sing to you, and I don't have a terrific voice.' I didn't say anything, just turned away. Then he started singing this silly song at the top of his lungs. The words didn't even rhyme, he just put a bunch of nonsense to a tune, that went sour. But he made me laugh, and at that moment I just thought, 'I want to marry him,'" she started to cry again. James put his arm around her, but she pulled away and got up and walked out of the room, crying.

James knew from the past six days that she wanted to be left alone. He got up and pulled down a photo album. He opened it and smiled at the pictures it held inside. The first was when he was brought home from the hospital a couple days after he was born. They both looked so happy. Then there was a picture of him and his dad on the beach, Samantha took the picture. He couldn't remember it though, he was just two. And then as he had mentioned, James riding his first broom. Also in the picture was Sirius, on his first broom. From the looks of the picture, and the faces on everyone, they appeared to be racing. Byron was pushing James, and Mitch was pushing Sirius.

He smiled as he remembered that day, but then a strange noise brought him back to the present. He had distinctly heard a loud thud coming from down the hall.

"Mum?" he called. There was no answer. "Mum?" he called again, this time louder. Still, no response. James threw the album on the couch, and walked down the hall. "Mum, are you alright?" But he heard nothing. James ran to her bedroom, and turned the door nob. Only when he pushed open the door, something was stopping him. Fearing the worst, he started to scream, "Mum!" He pushed the door firmly, and poked his head inside. She was lying, motionless on the floor. He squeezed through the door, sweat pouring down his face. She was just lying there, her eyes closed. He knelt down beside her and put his head to her chest. There was no heart beat.

"Wake up!" he shouted, "Please wake up!" he hoisted her off the ground and took her to the bed, and lay her down. Not knowing what to do, he just tried to take her pulse, but he felt nothing.

"No," he said, tears filling his blue eyes, "No, don't leave me, mum, please don't leave me." He started to shake her gently, but she still didn't wake, or move. "No, God, no." He turned and ran for the door, ran out of the house, and as fast as his legs would take him, he ran across the street to the Black's. He beat on the door, screaming for help. Jen came to the door, "James, what's wrong?"

"She's gone. She won't wake up, you have to help me!" he didn't turn away this time as he began to sob. Jen called up to her husband to come quick, and the three of them ran across the street and into the house.

Mitch got to Samantha first, and lifted her wrist. He closed his eyes, and shook his head. "I'm sorry, son," he said. Jen burst into tears, and held on to James as tight as she could.  


The Doctor confirmed it. There was no poison or drugs found in her system. He said she had a fast heart attack, but James insisted she died of a broken heart. Lily and Sirius were both excused from classes to be with James, who was at this point beyond tears. After the funeral, James went up to his room, and lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling...thinking.

Lily and Sirius came in after him, but said nothing. They didn't really know what to say, they had already said their "sorry's" but what else do you say? Lily went over to the bed, and lay next to him, putting her arm around him, and laying her head under his chin. But he didn't say anything, just stared up at the ceiling.

Sirius pulled up a chair, and moved closer to James. "Ravenclaw slaughtered Slytherin," Sirius said, at his attempt to bring James out of his current state.

James just did a funny kind of grunt to acknowledge he had heard him.

"Everyone asks about you. Wonder's where you are all the time. Asks if you're Okay," he said again. "Snapes been getting a bit smarmy in your absence. Seems to think he's king of England or something. We are really needing you back my friend."

"I don't have a family, anymore. Voldemort took them from me. He's going to pay," James said quite suddenly. Lily lifted herself and looked into his eyes, brushing his hair off his forehead with her hand. "I'm all alone now," he continued, "all alone."

"That's not true," she said to him, "not true at all. You have me. You have me more than anything in this world. You hear me?"

"And me, you fruitcake," Sirius added with a grin. "Don't go back on your word. You've promised me that we'll be best friends for all time. Partners in crime, the bash brothers, we're two of legend. They'll be talking about the things we did for all eternity."

James smiled weakly.

"You're to stay with us, now," Sirius said. "You've spent half your life at my house anyway."

"Yeah," James responded quietly.

Lily propped herself on her side, and stared at him. She took her index finger, and ran it down his forehead, to the tip of his nose, down to his lips, past his chin and down his neck, and onto his chest. He smiled and looked at her, she smiled back.

Sirius shrugged, and looked the other way. "Can you tell that I am still sitting here?" he asked laughing.

James propped himself up and faced her. "I really don't deserve you, do you know that?" 

She smiled, and ran her fingers through his hair. "You don't think so?" she asked him.

"No, I don't."

"Know what that means?" she asked, smiling more broadly.

"No," he said in a whisper.

"It means, if that's what you think, then I make the decisions, which translates into this: I think you deserve me. I'm kinda fond of you, actually. I think I'm going to keep you, as a matter of fact. What do you think about that?"

"I think I like the way your mind works," he said rolling back on his back so he could stare at the ceiling again.

She looked at Sirius, who nodded, and got up. Lily stroked his face, kissed him, and got up, too.

"We'll see you soon," she said to him, "You'll be coming back to us, won't you?"

James sat up, and looked at the two people in the world that meant everything to him. "Yeah, very soon," he said, smiling very slightly, "I love you two, you know that?"

"Of course," Lily said, smiling.

"You're such a fruitcake, James," Sirius said beaming at him. "You get back soon. I hate you being gone, it throws off my equilibrium. You're my other half after all. My twin if you will."

"Sure seems that way, doesn't it?" he asked, sitting up completely.

Sirius smiled. Lily nodded in agreement, then she took Sirius's hand, and led him out of the room. They both looked back at him, and smiled one last time before they disappeared.

James smiled, and lay back down on his bed, thinking of what his father had written to him. It was the best advice he had given him.

"You're right, Dad," he said to the ceiling, "I am going to marry her."


	11. The Term's End

*** The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn' to be sold, reproduced or taken as true. The main characters and most locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. No copyright infringement is intended.***

Part Eleven: The Term's End  
"See into the future; take a chance."  


Things slowly got back to normal for the four Marauders. James arrived back the day after Sirius and Lily had left him feeling miserable in his house. It was as if nothing had happened to him. He came back to Hogwarts just as himself, nothing different about him, and nothing appeared to be bothering him. Lily knew otherwise. James was a great actor when it came to what he was feeling deep down, and Lily was the only one who could sense his inner conflicts; a woman's gift, if you will. 

But his hidden feelings didn't affect anything going on. The first thing he did upon his arrival back, was to examine the Quidditch team, and he was sorely disappointed.

"For one, practices are to be held four times a week. If there is a match approaching with in a month, six times a week. No excuses. I am sorry that Sirius gave you a break, I never would have," he said to his six fellow team members.

So the team went back to their rigorous practices nearly everyday. 

Spring could be seen creeping over the snowy hills of the school; licking away at the snow covered roofs, and dancing across the ice toped lake. Baby birds could be heard chirping down the corridors, different colored flowers blossomed on the water's edge, and first years played freeze tag after class.

But, for our main characters, the only new scenery they saw were test books. Spring meant a number of things: Quidditch Final, Summer holidays, Inter-house Championship, and last but by no means least, unfortunately, end of year exams, followed by the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams, or O.W.L.s. James, Sirius and Lily had all picked up top marks on their tests their fifth year, and did exceptionally well on their O.W.L.s. But now they had to work the same magic again, only this time it was going to be a bit harder.

Undaunted by the large task, Lily took to studying whenever she could. She was leader of many fifth years, and above, who all looked to her for advice, and assistance. Among them was of course, Remus, Peter, Jade, and Liz, who did well in their fifth year, but could improve. James and Sirius on the other hand, couldn't be bothered. They had done just fine last year, with just a tad bit of studying, and they intended on doing the same this year. After all, they had the Quidditch cup to win.

The others scorned them for their lack of study habits, but as Sirius pointed out, "What are study habits?" 

Just to keep her happy, James opened the occasional book and wrote down some random facts for Lily. "It's not like I have anyone breathing down my neck anymore, for me to do well on these damn things," he pointed out to her.

"How can you take that attitude? You have to take these tests for yourself, not your mother and father. They help you assess where you are on the scale, keep you on your toes, let the rest of the world know that you can do magic better than anyone," she told him.

"You actually believe those lies they tell you?" he asked laughing. "Are you doing it for yourself? Because you are the smartest girl in the year, it's not like you have to study. I just think you're taking the extra effort to go above and beyond anything your sister ever did, am I right?"

"How immature," Lily said, but she went slightly pink, and discontinued the conversation.

It was good that James and Sirius were so smart, because whatever free time they did have, they spent it going over Quidditch strategies. Occasionally, Sirius would go out for a jaunt with Annika, his new girlfriend, whom he had been sneaking out with, for quite a while.

"James, she could be the one, my match, my Lily," he said to James at lunch one time, while the others studied in the library. "I mean, she's smart, funny, intelligent, pretty as hell, and a damn good kisser."

"I don't know," James responded. "How can you be so sure?" He was still harboring the belief that maybe it was Jade that was right for him. She was always so quiet now, not really talking to him, not as happy as usual. But James was impressed by how she held herself, never yelling, or fighting with Sirius, never telling him how she felt when she saw he was happy. And that made him wonder.

"How can you be so sure that Lily is the one?" Sirius asked, but he didn't really need to.

"I just know. I have no doubt in my mind. I never said, 'she could be the one' I said she is the one. I just know."

"Well good for you. It took you six years to kiss her, longer to confess your undying love for her, and probably five years for you to get down on one knee and propose to her."

"Oh now that hurt," James said smirking.

"Any way, how about Seekers?"

"Seekers, yeah, how about them. Who do you think should go out for it?" James asked.

"I don't know. We won't be able to stop Jackson, but he has such heart for it. I see him out there flying around all the time. He's terrible though, it's just so sad," Sirius said, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

"I know. I was looking at Cara Lanigan, she's small, light, nimble. I've seen her fly around in the afternoons sometimes, and with a little practice I think she could fill the bill."

"What year?"

"Third."

"Hmmmm....Cute?"

"Sirius," James said exasperated, "what's that got to do with anything? See, I knew this Annika character isn't the one. If she was, you wouldn't be asking about a possible seeker being cute."

"It was just a question, I'm curious. So is she?"

"I guess," James said, frustrated.

"So who else is there?"

"Scott Parker, fifth year. Slender, yet compact, and quick, but not so maneuverable."

"That can be worked on. I've seen him too, he's not bad. I think we should hold some Pre Try-outs, you know? Technically we can't start the official try-out's till next year, but we could give them all pointers."

"That's for sure. I'll post something on the board in the common room."

"Hey Sirius," it was Annika. She had her hair in soft curls today, and she wore a small diamond pendant around her neck. She smiled at him, and french kissed him as she sat down next to him.

"Now, Annika," he said smirking, "This is our table, no Ravenclaws aloud." He grabbed her waist, and tickled her, kissing her repeatedly on her lips, cheeks and neck.

She giggled loudly. James scowled at them.

"Hi," James said, smiling politely. "We haven't been introduced, I'm James," he said, putting out his hand.

"I know," she said shaking it. "I'm Annika. I'll be flying circles around you on Saturday," she said with a competitive edge.

"You think so, do you?" James asked sarcastically. "We'll see about that, won't we Sirius?"

Sirius, however, was running his hands through her hair, without listening. "Huh?" he asked stupidly.

"Well," James said getting up, "I'll leave you two to your, um, touching, and go up to the tower to get my things. See you in Binn's." James gathered his books and his bag and headed for the tower.

Once he had collected his books, he headed back down for History of Magic. He didn't know exactly where Remus and Peter were, but had a good idea. As he was walking down the corridor, he saw Jade walking alone, which was eminently unusual. Aside from wondering where Lily was, he thought it would be a good idea to have a talk with her.

"Jade," he called, "Wait up a second."

She turned around and smiled as she waited. 

"Lily's still in the library giving some fifth years advice on the test," she said.

"Ah," he said, thinking it was stupid he hadn't realized that in the first place. "I actually wanted to talk to you for a second."

"About what?" but she asked it as though she knew what he was going to say. She looked sheepishly down at her feet.

"Sirius," he said softly, so other's wouldn't hear him.

"What about him?" pretending that it was an odd question to have asked. James looked at her and grinned.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked, blushing just a little.

"Well, no. But I saw the look on your face a couple of weeks ago when that Annika girl came up to him. You looked like someone had told you that you had just days to live. That gave it away."

"Does he know?"

"Sirius? Are you kidding me? No way. He's clueless to the whole situation. That's just how he is. Of course, I didn't know either, I just thought the two of you were friends. Guess that says something about me, too. So I guess the point of this conversation is, do you want me to say anything to him?"

"No," she said very suddenly. She kept shaking her head, "No, I don't want anyone to say or do anything, I would like to do this on my own. He should be able to figure it out himself, I don't want everyone pointing it out to him."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"What do you mean? Does he really like that chick? Is he talking of marrying her or something?"

"Absolutely not," he assured her. "I don't think there is anything there at all, other than physical attraction. I don't know why he keeps doing this, over and over. It's always the same with him."

"I don't want to be one of those girls he puts on his mantel as a trophy. I really like him, don't ask me why. He's just so fun to be around, he's smart, sweet and handsome, but why does he have to be so blind? Does he like me at all?"

"Yes," James said confidently. "Yes he does. He was the first to say that you should be the one to help us out over Christmas. He was the one that went to you back in September. He likes you very much, but let me tell you something about Sirius. He wouldn't see true love if it danced naked on his nose."

Jade laughed at his expression. "Why can't you have a brother?"

"Sorry about that one, out of my hands. He's as close as they get though. Don't worry about Annika, she'll be gone in a few weeks, and then he'll be depressed again. And that's when you come to the rescue."

"Yeah, maybe. I just thought by now that he would at least have some clue that I cared for him."

"Were you listening to me at all?" he asked smiling. She nodded, and smiled back. "I can point him in your direction, but you don't want me to, yes?"

"Yeah, I've waited this long, I can wait some more."

"Maybe you shouldn't wait," James said thoughtfully. 

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I always got steamed whenever some hot shot started talking to Lily. I was real jealous, perhaps he is too. Just strike it up with some guy, and watch him fume, I guarantee he will."

"You really think so? Lily suggested it, but I didn't think he would fall for it."

"So she talked to other guys to get me angry?" he asked, completely forgetting about the latter part of her question.

"James, focus please. Why do you care anyway, we're about to do the same thing to Sirius."

"Right, sorry. Let me think for a bit. There's Dominic, a year up. He's a bit good looking, and taller than Sirius, it'll look like good competition."

"He's a little sure of himself don't you think?" she asked with a hint of timidness.

"Have you met Sirius?" he asked with a raised brow. "They don't get more confident than him. Anyway's this is just a test run, see what he does, you know? Who cares who it is, it could be me or Remus if we were available. Hey wait a second," he broke off. Wouldn't it almost be better if it was one of them, or both, or all. Yeah, now he was thinking.

"What is it?" 

"I need to discuss this with Lily, Liz and Remus, but you could act a little giddy around Remus and I, and strike it up with Dominic, when Sirius is around. If that doesn't knock him out of the sky, I don't know what will."

"A love potion would do the trick," she said lightly.

"No way in hell," he sternly replied. She looked at him funny, but he didn't turn to match her. "I'll talk to Lily about it though, Okay?"

"No, just Dominic, I want to do this. I don't need it to be a group thing. Thanks though," she smiled as he opened the door to the class, and they took their usual seats.

Sirius came in just after they did, and sat next to James, looking disheveled. Jade, turned the other way when she saw him. James made a motion to Sirius, by passing his hands over his lips.

"You've got lipstick all over yourself, mate," James whispered to him.

"Oh," Sirius said, looking around madly for anything reflective. "Jade, can I borrow a mirror?" 

James rolled his eyes, this must be ripping her apart. Without looking around, Jade passed a mirror behind her, and he took it. He started wiping his face with his black sleeve, then decided to improve his hair...

"You look pretty, Sirius," Lily said as she took her seat beside Jade. Sirius looked up at her and laughed. "Thanks," he replied.

As always, no one actually paid attention in Professor Binns' class. Sirius lay his head on the desk, Jade kept her eyes half open, Peter stared at the blackboard, drool dripping down his chin, and Remus had the talent that everyone envied: sleeping with his eyes open.

James and Lily looked like they were actually alert and paying attention to all the Goblin Wars, and Resolutions the Ministry made, but they weren't. They kept passing a paper back and forth without him seeing it. Occasionally one of them would smile, and almost laugh, which made the rest of the class suspicious, but did not deter Binns from his daily droning. 

Once the class ended, which seemed like days later, they all headed up to he tower for a bit of a rest. Lily started to prepare her next lesson for the younger student's who needed tutoring, Remus and Liz went to a corner and told each other how wonderful they were, Peter disappeared through the portrait door to see Fran from Hufflepuff, and Sirius and James, were writing an advertisement for the Pre-Try-outs for the open position of Seeker. 

_Seeker Needed to fill the large shoes left by penny _

_Thompson. If you think you are up to snuff, come and _

_Show us what you got, on May 3rd. All years invited,_

_If you do not have your own broom, one will be_

_Provided for you. Must have good Marks, and good _

_Flying capabilities to fill the Job. We alone hold the right to turn down anyone at all. You have been warned._

_Your Captain and co-captain,_

_James Potter and Sirius Black_  


Happy with what they wrote, they posted it on the message board, then headed down for practice. As Annika had said, Gryffindor would be playing Ravenclaw this Saturday, and practice was therefore six days a week, which most of the team thought was a bit excessive, but "Do you want to win the cup, or not?" as James would say. 

After what seemed hours on the Quidditch pitch, the team had finished and headed back up for a late dinner. Back in the common room, Lily was teaching some third years about magical creatures. But all of the students, Sirius noticed, were boys, who weren't taking a single note.

"You've got competition," Sirius whispered to James, as he pointed this out to him. All of the young boys were smiling at her as she spoke. James laughed.

"Why hello, Professor Evans," James said to her, putting his broomstick on the wall, and sitting next to her. "What's the lesson for today?" he yawned.

The boys stopped smiling as he came over; they had been caught in the act.

"Kappas," she said to him.

"So, what have you all learned about them?" he asked her young fan club. None of them said anything. They looked at one another, searching for what to say. "Surely you learned something, Lily is a great teacher." But still, no words.

Lily looked upset at them, "I have been talking for twenty minutes, and you have learned nothing?"

James bent in closer to her, and whispered in her ear, "They think you're pretty."

She looked at him, as if to say, "don't be silly," but then she looked at the boys, and made up her mind. "Well, I have some things to do, myself. Next time, gentlemen, I won't be so kind." The group of boys scattered quickly, and ran upstairs.

James chuckled a bit. "Thirteen, what an age."

"So you talked to Jade, then, didn't you?" she asked.

"Yes, yes I did. I know you said to say nothing, but I don't think she cared. I kinda told her how to work this whole thing."

"Yeah, she appreciated it. That was nice of you. Have you done any studying for the end of the year exams?"

"Um..." he said, suddenly interested in Kappas, "well..." he fumbled once more.

"James, have you at least opened a book?"

"Yes."

"And read the words on the page?"

"No, but I have a good excuse fo that."

"What?" she asked, but she dreaded the answer.

"Lily, the Quidditch cup is coming, I can't shrug that off, now can I? The entire house is depending on us to win, I can't go breaking their hearts."

"Okay, then why don't you study now?"

"Because I'm tired," he yawned, "and my brain is having trouble with the simple things. What's your name agian?"

"Ha, ha ha," she said, clearly not amused. "Come on, James, open a book and read from it. Just this once."

He looked at her for a while, considering it. Then he pulled out one of her books and opened it, not even knowing what it was.

"Okay, studying, here we go. We're studying now, yehaw, he we go. Page 107, oh boy, this is fun. 'Human transformation, the basics' yeah, this is good stuff. 'Human transformation can be very dangerous,' duh, 'and should be done under the supervision of a highly trained wizard.' Gee wiz, I need to write this down, this is important," he said sarcastically pulling a pad toward him.

Lily was smiling from ear to ear.

"Human transformation," he repeated as he scribbled swirls on the parchment pad, "is very dangerous and should be done under supervision, got it. Next line. 'Transfiguration is not to be used as a punishment on other human beings' what would you use it on, dogs? That was a stupid phrase, 'or the transfigurer will be punished accordingly.' Yeah, so far I have learned squat. Here's a question. So you use the Imperius curse on someone and tell them to eat a cookie, and you end up in Azkaban. Right? But you transfigure some stupid Prat, lets use Snape as an example, into a toad and you just get detention? What kind of messed up law is that. I mean, I could turn old Snape into a fly, and squash him, and no one would know about it. But God forbid I use the Imperius curse on him and tell him to make obscene faces at Dumbledore."

Lily laughed. 

"This is why I don't study. There is nothing to learn from this crap," and he started laughing, because Lily was laughing so hard. "Am I right? I mean, come on! This book tells you nothing."

"What is so funny?" Sirius asked.

"You are," James said, Lily laughed harder, she started to slap her leg.

"What, you're laughing at me?" he asked, no trace of a smile. Lily looked at him, her face red.

"No, you stupid git," James said, looking at Lily and trying not to smile, which proved difficult. "We're not laughing at you."

"What then? Tell me."

"We're laughing at your fat ass," he couldn't contain the laughter now. Lily was in tears, and the look on Sirius's face was so heart breaking it was hilarious. "I'm only joking," James said, trying to calm down. 

"You think I have a big ass?" Sirius asked, glancing back at it. This just was too much for Lily.

"Oh, Sirius," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes, "your bum is fine."

"Why were you laughing then?" He looked almost hurt.

"We were just joking with the whole concept of studying out of this lame book," James said, "that's all."

Sirius looked at both of them, as if trying to see through them. "I like it better when you two are kissing," and he walked away.

Lily was silent for a while, as she watched Sirius head upstairs. "He does kinda have big bum, though, doesn't he?" she said.

And then they laughed again, the entire common room staring at them, but smiling, none the less.  
  


* * * * *

To Annika's displeasure, Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw 310 to 20. It was the worse defeat they had ever suffered. James even made it an effort to fly circles around Annika, just before he intercepted the Quaffle.

She was upset by such a runaway, and from then on, didn't want to have anything to do with James, which severely cut time she could spend with Sirius, seeing as how they were the best of friends. This of course made Sirius upset, but Jade started to perk up again.

At this point, there was no possible way, unless Hufflepuff beat Gryffindor by 420 points, that they would lose the cup, but it didn't stop them from practicing. James cut back to three practices a week, and the team was grateful. Try-outs were held for seeker, and to James and Sirius's great surprise, 30 people showed up to train.

"Whoa," Sirius said, as the two of them stepped out onto the field. "It looks like there are just a few who want that position."

"Yeah," James said, slowly looking around at the large group of people, "just a few." James and Sirius made their way to the crowd in the center of the field. 

"Good evening," he said to them, "If you haven't seen me before in your life, or never heard me yell across the hall-

"Or seen him collide into stationary objects," Sirius added with a grin. The group laughed. James couldn't help but smile just a tad.

"I am the captain of the team. You can call me James. So this is how this is going to work. Since there are so many of you, I will take half, and Sirius will take half, and we will see what you're all made of."

Some young girls standing in the back giggled when he said this, and pointed at him, blushing.

Sirius, bit his lip to keep from laughing.

"We will tell you what to do, not how to do it. When we finish, we will tell each of you how to improve, or tell you never to return, because you stink. Don't let either phrase inhibit you from your training. Anyone can try out for seeker in September. Is that clear?"

The crowd nodded. Sirius whispered into James's ear, and pointed at the girls in the back row, who appeared to be quite taken with James.

"And one more thing," James said, raising his index finger, "There will be no inter-Quidditch-team dating."

The girls in the back frowned, Sirius fought a chuckle. "Okay, let's see what you've got."

James took one half, the half without the girls, and Sirius another. The began by simple drills: who could fly the fastest from one end to the other. But there was a challenge to it. James's group was at one end, Sirius's at another, and they were to fly toward each other. "And one more thing," they both said to their groups, "we have released the bludgers, so watch yourselves." This got many of them to raise their brows, but it didn't discourage them. They all raced to the opposite ends as fast as they could, trying to dodge each other and the occasional bludger that would veer past their ears. James and Sirius both flew high over the mass chaos to discuss who looked good, and who didn't. Only three of them were exceptionally good at it, the others were just alright.

"Parker looks good," Sirius said, as he watched him dodge a bludger, then quickly dive under two oncoming students.

"Yeah, he does," James agreed.

"So does she," Sirius pointed to a very small first year girl, her hair in pig tails. 

"Who is she?" James asked.

"No idea," Sirius responded. After about twenty minutes, people were beginning to fatigue. Parker and the first year girl, however, were still doing very well.

James blew the whistle, and Sirius went to collect the bludgers. James instructed them all to land, and he started asking their names. When he came to the first year girl, he shook her hand.

"And who are you, little falcon you?" she smiled, but didn't giggle like the other girls, who incidently, were lying in the back, exhausted. 

"Amanda Davies," she said in a small voice. 

"You did very well Amanda, you keep practicing over the summer, and see what happens in September," he winked at her, so that only she could see. Then he continued on with the rest, telling them that they had to work on form, speed, and their own body weight if they wanted to win the position. 

"Good idea we had," Sirius said to him, as they started back up to the tower.

"Very good idea. Now we know what to expect in just a few months."

"Sirius!" Annika called from the entrance hall. He looked up and smiled at her.

"Why lookie who!" James said to her, "It's the chaser slash looper. How's it going, been dizzy lately?"

She frowned at him, and drug Sirius away, he wasn't struggling. "Nut case," James mumbled to himself as he walked up to the tower amongst all the seeker hopefuls. 

"James, James!" Jackson called, he was very hyped and enthused. 

"What, what?" James asked smirking.

"What did you think? Did I make the team? Did I make it then?"

"You need to work on your redundancy. Um...I don't know yet, there were quite a few good people, just work hard over summer, and we'll see, alright?"

He looked slightly disappointed, but nodded.

Once in the tower, James crashed into a chair by the fire place, and closed his eyes. He was very tired, it felt very nice, lying here, in the cool room....

He was playing Quidditch, or he thought he was. He was flying high above the field, looking down on the players, but there were already seven on the field. Gryffindor was playing Ravenclaw, just as they had last weekend. But it wasn't his team, all the chasers were girls, and a different commentator was telling the game. Gryffindor was in the lead. James tried to move his broom closer to the action, but he was stuck there. He leaned forward to get a better look at the players.

"That's weird," he said as he looked at the top of the new seeker, "I don't remember seeing him at practice. Just then the seeker looked upwards. James shouted. But the boy didn't hear him, he just rushed down ward very quickly to try to grab the snitch. The funny thing was, the boy looked just like him.

Some one was poking him, pulling him away from this strangeness. "James," he heard, but James didn't want to go, he wanted to see who this boy was, who had just pulled a great maneuver and caught the snitch as the crowd screamed. He hoped the commentator would mention his name, but something kept poking him, "James," came a voice from the distance.

James opened his eyes and stood up very suddenly. He looked around him and saw Peter, who had awoken him. James just stood there for a while, then looked at Peter. 

"What is it?" he asked him. "I was sleeping, you woke me up."

"So sorry," Peter said hesitantly. "I just wondered if I could borrow one of your books."

James was still thinking of that seeker. If only Peter would have left him alone. "Sure," James said distantly. "No problem."

Peter smiled at him, and raced upstairs. James sunk back into his chair and wanted to sleep again, but he couldn't. Maybe if he went to bed he would dream it again. James got up, looked at his watch; it was very early still, but he didn't care. He went back upstairs, took off his robes, put on a large t-shirt and sweats and lay down on his bed. He closed his eyes and drifted off in sleep. But the boy was gone, nothing but blackness passed through his mind.

* * * * *

He could never remember having a dream like that, and he never had one like it again. Ever again. It was as though he was looking down at himself, from the sky, which was very strange. He went down to breakfast the next morning, very quiet, not wanting to say anything, really. He had woken rather late, so everyone was already down in the Hall eating breakfast, and were happy to see him.

"Why hello, sleepy head," Sirius said as he sat down next to him. James didn't reply.

"You alright, James?" Remus asked. Peter and Sirius looked at him too.

"Fine," he said, looking up at them as if they had asked an inappropriate question.

"You look thoughtful," Remus continued.

"What's wrong with thoughtful?" James asked.

"Nothing," Remus answered, "nothing at all. What are you thinking about?"

"Just stuff," James lied.

"Good morning all!" Lily said as she sat down across from James. "What's up with you?" she asked him.

"See," Remus said, "Told you, you don't look right."

"James," Lily asked, "Are you doing Okay?"

"Yes, I am fine. I just had a strange dream that's all."

"Really, so did I. What was yours about?" she asked, taking a sip of orange juice.

"You tell me first, what was your's about," he asked, leaning forward.

"Well, I was just laying on the most beautiful beach in the world, and a handsome man was massaging my back. The cool wind tickled me. Not a big deal," she said lightly. James looked down at the table, but Remus and Sirius stared at her.

"No, mine was different," James said, as if he hadn't really heard hers. "A lot different."

"What was it James," Lily said, leaning forward and taking his hands. "You want to tell us, don't you?"

"Not really, I just keep thinking about it, and I don't really know why. Weird," he said as he scratched the back of his head.

Just then, the mail arrived. Instinctually, James looked up, but who would write him now? He looked back down quickly, and started to poke some eggs with his fork.

A white envelope dropped in front of Lily and she opened it rapidly. Once she unfolded the letter, she gasped.

"She married him!" she yelled, almost fuming. "I can't believe she married that sl..." she stopped suddenly and looked at everyone. They all smirked, they knew what she was going to say, slob, but she never insulted anyone, or tried not to at least. She turned back to her letter. "Mrs. Vernon Dursley, yuk. She got married without even telling me. Without inviting me, without telling me-

"You said that already," James said. "Don't tell me you would have gone to the wedding if she had invited you."

"I would have!" she said defensively.

"Lily," James said raising his eyebrows and smiling. He took her hands back.

"Okay, you got me," she admitted, "I just wanted to turn her down, there. Happy? No, I might have gone, depends on how horrible she was to me. I would have gone, I would have. And I would have been gracious and polite, just the opposite of her."

"Is there a picture at least?" Remus asked cautiously.

"Um," she said, looking in the envelope. "Yeah, there is. But before I show you, let me just say, that I think Petunia was adopted. I see no resemblance between me and her, and if anyone of you suggests it, Ill hex you."

"Fine, let's see the picture," Sirius said. Lily put up the photo. She was right. Right about both of them.

"Was the camera out of focus?" Sirius asked.

"No, that's how they look," Lily said.

"He's kind of a pudge boy, isn't he?" Sirius said smirking. 

"I think your right," James said to Lily, "She must have been adopted. She looks like a horse."

"One that's been set to pasture," Sirius said.

"She looks happy," Remus said. "Maybe they're right for each other."

"Oh there's no doubt about that," Lily said with confidence. "No doubt in my mind. He is dull, rude, boring, lazy, and has no sense of humor."

"So you like him then?" Sirius asked.

"They're going to have really ugly children," Remus pointed out.

"Ew," Lily said. "The thought of seeing them in that kind of...ew," she covered her eyes, and shook her head. Peter looked at it, then tossed it back to her.

When the bell rang, the headed for potions, their least favorite class.

"Oh good," James said sarcastically, "Over and hour with Snape. Hip hip horay. I can't wait."

"Me neither," Sirius added.

They all had to wait outside while they waited for the professor to come to class. Snape was in a large group of people, including Robert Lestrange, Jacob Roiser, and William Knott, who all loved the Dark Arts.

James would bet his broomstick that they had all celebrated his father's murder, and he was glad that he wasn't around to see it, out of fear that he would have killed the whole lot of them. Lily tried to distract him from looking at them, but he was still angry at their kind of people.

"James," Lily said quietly, "James, just ignore them. You're better than them, remember that."

"No comparison, James, there's no comparison," Sirius said patting James's shoulder. Snape turned and looked at James with loathing, just as usual. But he hadn't crossed his path since he had given him warning about Lily. That relaxed him a little.

"Good Morning, class," Professor Wicks said to them. He opened the door and let them enter. James took Lily's hand, still watching where Snape was at all times.

"Sit with me," he whispered in Lily's ear. She smiled at him, and nodded. They sat down at the usual spot, Sirius sat on James's other side, and Jade sat next to him.

James looked down at Snape, and saw he was looking at them, mostly at her, and he didn't stop glaring when James spotted him. But James just stared right back into his cold eyes.

"Are you alright, baby?" she whispered to him, passing her smooth hand on his cheek. Snape didn't like that at all, and he finally turned to face the front.

"Fine," he said.

"Today," Wicks began, "We will be reviewing for your final exam. There is much that you need to know about the five poisons that we have discussed. You will need to know the ingredients of each of them, and the antidotes, though I will only ask for you to make two."

So they reviewed the poisons, one causing a horrible sickness, which would result in vomiting, and nausea. Another one would cause temporary blindness. The Funfilla potion would result in memory lapse for up to 36 days, that was Sirius's favorite. He thought that maybe he could have someone give to him next year when they had to take the N.E.W.T.s so he would be able to get out of it. Sharpson's poison would cause ugliness, and disfiguration lasting for up to ten years. But the worst of all, to the boys in the room, was the Steringer's poison, which led to baldness, and infertility.

The rest of the class was spent taking notes, though James and Snape kept giving evil glances to one another. But James was almost certain that Snape was just toying with him. But if he wasn't, James would have no hesitation in killing him.  
  


At long last, the final week of school was here. The final exams had been given, and O.W.L.s administered, now they just had to wait. To no one's surprise, Gryffindor took the Quidditch cup for the fifth year in a row, which meant that they would no doubt win the inter house championship as well.

It was beautiful outside on the grounds, the grass rippled like a deep green sea as the wind swept past. Amanda Davies, along with other Gryffindors, took their broomsticks and flew in the Quidditch field, having the time of their lives.

As expected, Sirius and Annika broke up, just two weeks before the term's end. Jade, James could tell, tried to pretend that she was sad for him, but when Sirius wasn't around, she was very cheerful. But Sirius wasn't so happy. Tuesday afternoon he walked down to a grassy hill and sat down, alone. Only the giggling from his left told him that he wasn't alone, but might as well have been.

James and Lily were both lying on their backs and staring at the clouds as they rolled by. She turned on her side and rested her head on his chest, her arm across his torso. They looked very happy.

Sirius looked at them and smiled a bit, but then he looked away, and then he too lay flat on his back, looking at the sky. "I'm going to be single forever," he mumbled to himself. "Probably live alone all my life," he continued to the sky.

"Are you okay?" Jade asked, as she stood over him. "Are you talking to yourself?"

"Yeah, the only person I can agree with most of the time," he said sitting up. She sat down next to him and smiled.

"Any plans over the summer?" she asked.

"Just keeping an eye on him," he said, as he nodded over in James's direction. Jade looked, and giggled. Sirius turned to see. Now Lily was on top of James, kissing him very enthusiastically. 

"Ew," Sirius said, turning back to Jade, who didn't seem to think it gross at all.

"I think it's sweet," she picked a flower, and started taking off the petals one by one.

"We should do something to them," he said.

"Like what, throw water on them? They won't stop."

"I'd hate if some first year saw the two of you!" he yelled over at them.

Lily turned to look at him, as did James, but neither one said anything. Instead, Lily looked around her, shook her head, saying, "there isn't," to Sirius, and then without a wand, she pointed her hand to a large rock, and made it sail over her, and landed it between them and Sirius.

"Now you don't have to watch!" Sirius heard James yell from the other side. 

"He's really going to miss her over the summer," Sirius said.

"Yeah, he's going to miss all of them."

"He'll still have me, that he won't miss, never will either. I'll always be around."  


Sirius reckoned it was either spring, or the fact that they weren't going to see each other everyday for two and a half months, that Lily and James were in such a "kissy" mood. Sirius even made the comment to Lily, when she had come up for air, "I thought you were shy? So why are your lips locked all the time?" With which she answered, "The four of you have had a very bad influence on me," and then she resumed making out with James in the corner.

Sirius rolled his eyes, and looked around for someone else to talk to. He would have James all summer, so he didn't mind that he wasn't around him now. It occurred to him that maybe the "kissy" mood was contagious, because three couples were doing it in the common room. Liz and Remus were as well, though not like the other two couples. They actually looked tasteful, talking to each other and kissing briefly, not as passionate as the other two. 

Jade was having a deep conversation with Dominic, a burly seventh year, who looked pleased with this. Sirius moved in to investigate.

"I'm going to Paris this summer," Dominic said, smiling at Jade. "Maybe you could come along."

"That's sounds fun," she said, as Sirius sat on the table, feet from them.

"Hello Sirius," Dominic said, unaware that Sirius had his arms crossed, and didn't smile back at him.

"Hello," he said cooly. Jade smiled.

"Dominic has invited me to go to Paris with him over the summer. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Really," Sirius said, looking at him and smiling. "Is that so? Shouldn't you look for a job? I mean, you have to support yourself now, graduating and all."

"That's why I am going to Paris," he responded, "I am looking for a Job as a professor. There aren't any opening's here, and I wanted to learn french. I was hoping to teach Transfiguration or Defense Against the Dark Arts at Beauxbatons Magic Academy."

"Is that right?" Sirius said, not sounding impressed. "So it's a business trip then, not a pleasure vacation?"

"I plan on seeing the French Riviera, the Louvre, and the Ifle tower while I am there, it's a little of both. Besides, why do you care?" he asked, getting a little defensive. He sat up in the couch, and stared at Sirius. 

"I don't. Your offer just doesn't sound very nice."

"Can you offer anything better? It just sounds like you're jealous of me, Black,"

"Jealous of what? There's nothing you have to be jealous of."

Dominic stood up, Sirius did too. Silence fell over the common room as the tension rose. Remus looked at Sirius, "Is everything alright?" he asked.

James opened his eyes, and stopped kissing Lily to see what the awkward silence was about. Once he saw what was going on, he whispered into Lily's ear, and she smiled.

"I'm warning you now, Black, one more word and I'll-

"You'll what, insult me?" he asked, moving closer to Dominic.

Dominic looked around the room for a second, then punched Sirius in the stomach. Sirius bent over, not expecting that, then stood back up and hit Dominic above his eye.

"Ooooo," the room said. James started walking towards the two of him, but Lily pulled him back, not wanting him to get in the middle.

"Knock it off!" Remus yelled, but they didn't. Sirius took Dominic by the collar, and threw him on the wall. But he wasn't like Snape at all. He was a tall burly 18 year old, and could handle himself quite well. He didn't like being shoved on the wall, at all. He pushed Sirius away, then slugged him with his left, then his right on the face, Jade started yelling.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Remus and James went to stop the fight. James, because he was taller and well respected, held Dominic back, Remus took Sirius.

"What's wrong with you two?" James asked, trying to sound confused.

"This shithead was insulting me!" he answered pointing to Sirius.

"Who are you calling shithead, ratface?" and Sirius lunged for him, but Peter went to help Remus hold him back.

"Relax you two," James commanded. "There are just days left in the term, I'd hate to see either of you expelled."

Just then the portrait door swung open, and Professor McGonagall walked in. James, Remus and Peter let go of their classmates. McGonagall looked perturbed. 

"What's going on in here?" she asked, but no one said anything, they stared at her. "Potter, what has happened?"

Why did she have to ask him? "Some of us were having a heated debate about, um, French and British relations," he lied quickly.

She didn't look convinced, but didn't press the matter. "I have come with the results for the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. Let me just say, that it is clear that some of you could care less about this test, and your mark reflects it." She looked around at the older students. "Potter," she said. Oh crap, he thought, he blew it. Too much Quidditch, Lily was right. "Your score," here it comes, the worst score in history. And he thought it was easy. "Your score, Mr. Potter, was the highest in the class, my congratulations."

He stood there shocked, applause poured into his ears. No way!

"Miss Evans," she continued, this time smiling, "You also scored with Mr. Potter, at the very top," more applause. "If I didn't know you two as well, and didn't know that you were seated on opposite sides of the room, I would suggest foul play, but, seeing as how it was impossible to cheat, congratulations are in order." The room filled with cheering and clapping, Sirius ignored Dominic and hugged the two of them. 

"It wasn't cheating, but Osmosis!" he said to them.

McGonagall started to hand out the test scores to each student. When she came to Sirius she smiled, "Good job, Mr. Black," and she winked at him.

"What did you get?" Lily asked. 

"Twelve! Better than last year, how about you two?"

"Thirteen," they said in unison.

"You know what this means, don't you? Having the highest score in the year?"

They shook their heads.

"Head Boy and Girl! They have to pick the two of you, it's a perfect match! Before you know it all will be playing tongue hockey because they admire you both," he said laughing at his own joke.

"Aren't you romantic," James said grinning. "They'll never make me Head Boy, I've got a record number of detentions, there's no way I'll get it. But Lily, for sure."

She blushed and didn't debate the issue.  
  
  


End of year Exam scores came in just after, and James, Lily and Sirius got the top marks in the year, Jade and Remus in close second. Before they knew it, it was time to pack up and leave Hogwarts for the Summer holidays.

Loading their trunks in the storage compartment, they all looked back at the castle, ready to greet her again in just a few months.

"When we come back, we're going to rule the place," Sirius said to James.

The train ride back was short but enjoyable. James kept his arm around Lily the entire time, and Sirius had to pull him away from her kicking and screaming when they arrived at the platform.

"I'll come to see you," she said to him, "I promise."

"Okay," he said, but he didn't let go, he looked pensive.

"James," Sirius said, "Don't do this again, she said she'll see you, I believe her. Because if she is lying," he said looking at her grinning, "then I will hunt her down and bring her to you because I know that you will drive me crazy because you aren't with her."

They both laughed. "Okay," James said again, still looking pensive, a dreamy look on his face.

"What is it, you want to tell me something, don't you?" she asked.

"Well, not exactly," he said smiling, fumbling with something in his pocket.

"What then?" she asked, looking at him confused. 

"Um," he said, "Okay, promise not to freak out, but," he said, going down on one knee and taking her hand. He quickly pulled a soft white box from his pocket, "Will you marry me?"


	12. The Summer In Between: Part One

*** The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn' to be sold, reproduced or taken as true. The main characters and most locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. No copyright infringement is intended.***  


The Summer in Between

Part One

"The world is full of irony, you just can't always see it."  
  


Sirius' jaw dropped, he swore he heard it shatter as it hit the pavement, his teeth rolling every which direction. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. James popped open the box to reveal a gold ring, on which lay three diamonds, the center one bigger than it's two neighbors. Lily stood silent, her hands to her mouth, her eyes reading total astonishment. Everyone else on the platform also fell silent and stood and stared. The girls all began crying with tears of joy, the boys grinned.

"James, I..." Lily began.

"I know what you're going to say," James interrupted, "We'll get married next summer, when we're old enough. Not this summer. I want to spend forever with you, Lily. Since the first time I saw you I loved you, and I will till the end of time. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy, because I can only find happiness if I know you are smiling."

A single tear of joy slid down her cheek. With her hands still covering her open mouth, she smiled, and nodded, then began to laugh.

James stood, took her waist and lifted her high in the air and began to spin her around. The crowd that was watching the scene unfold applauded and whooped, the girls were all in tears saying, "How romantic!"

"We're getting married!" she said to him, "Oh James!" she exclaimed as she hugged him, still crying with utter bliss. "You've made me so very happy."

James smiled, one of two of the greatest smiles that he ever wore. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me."

Sirius still stayed in his stupor. He still didn't quite grasp what he had seen. For sure James wouldn't have had the guts to ask such an important question as that, just now. No, he was going to take at least five years to pop that question, why was he doing it now? It just didn't make sense.

"Sirius!" Lily exclaimed, "We're getting married!"

"Uh huh," was all he could say, a stupid smile on his face.

"You alright, man?" James asked, "You know what this makes you?"

"All alone," Sirius responded automatically.

Lily's feet met the floor softly as James set her down. They both looked at each other, then back at Sirius who was staring into space.

"All alone?" James asked, curiously.

"Whose all alone?" Sirius said, with all sincerity. It seemed clear he was now back in the present.

"You just said that you're going to be all alone," James told him. Sirius gave him a funny face.

"No I didn't. Why would I say something like that?"

"Yeah, I heard you say it, Sirius," Lily attested. "I was standing right here. James asked you, 'Do you know what this makes you?' and you said, 'all alone.' Do you think you're alone, Sirius?"

He looked at her as if she was crazy. "No," he answered. "I never said that." But James and Lily looked at him strangely, making him uncomfortable. "So Congratulations!" he said, changing the subject.

James and Lily didn't quite understand, but smiled and moved on.

After the dramatic goodbyes, and the celebratory placement of the three diamond engagement ring on Lily's delicate finger, they left through Platform Nine and three Quarters. James and Sirius got off in the Tiverton Train station to find Mr. and Mrs. Black waiting for them.

Lily got off in the Norfolk train station to find that a short woman, with faded red hair, and a tall man with brown hair with some grey flecks were waiting for her. They were her parents and were eagerly anticipating her arrival. When she saw their smiling faces, she abandoned her cart and ran into their open arms.

"There's my princess!" her dad yelled as he enclosed her into his arms. Her mother was right behind her, hugging her tightly.

"We missed you, baby," Mrs. Evans said, "we missed you so much!"

"I missed you too," Lily said, though it was muffled due to the fact that she was talking into her father's suit. They all stayed in that group hug for at least five minutes, just holding each other. Passer's by looked at them and laughed.

When they did start walking to the car, Lily told them about the last half of the year, how they won the Quidditch cup, and the Inter-House championship, and how she had gotten 13 O.W.L.s, the top score in the school, but she purposely didn't mention her very recent engagement, and had also managed to keep her left hand out of sight.

Lily was opening the back door to her father's Mercedes Benz when her mother began a different conversation.

"Oh, Lily, did you get my letter?" she asked, as she got into the passenger's seat.

"What letter?," Lily asked. She put on her seat belt, and relaxed a bit.

"About the Wedding."

"Oh," Lily said, her eyes popping widely, "That letter, yeah I got it alright." She didn't mean for it to come out in such a dry, unpleasant tone. "So did Petunia forget about inviting me, or did she not want me to take any part in her marriage to Vernon?"

Mr. and Mrs. Evans exchanged nervous glances, then Mrs. Evans turned around in her seat to face her daughter.

"You know what," Lily said before her mother could utter a word, "It doesn't matter. I know she didn't want me there, I know that you probably tried to reason with her, but nothing could change her mind. I don't care, it's not like I'm going to invite her to my wedding next summer any..." Lily stopped dead. She had said she was having a wedding next summer. She had blown her cover. Way to go, stupid. And you worked so hard at not saying it just moments ago. You're never going to be Head Girl, she thought. But would they notice?

"What?" they both asked. "Did you say something about a Wedding?" her father asked, staring at her in the rear view mirror.

"Yeah," Lily said, but thought of a different route quickly enough, "So how was Petunia's ceremony? Was is nice?" But for all it was worth, she could have said she was joining a convent; they weren't fooled for a second.

"You just said that you were getting married next summer," Mr. Evans said, "Isn't that what you heard, Amanda?" he asked his wife.

"Yes, it is," she answered. She turned back again to look at Lily.

"Princess," Mr. Evans continued, "Are you planning on getting wed next summer?" his tone was very alluring.

Lily shifted uncomfortably in her seat, being careful not to expose her ring. But they kept staring at her.

"Yes," she said quietly. Mr. Evans had to swerve to miss a lamp post, the tires squealed.

"Robert!" Amanda yelled, clutching the handle on the car door. Once he was driving in his lane again, and the other cars on the road stopped honking at him, Robert took a deep breath.

"Lily, you are 16 years old, and far to young to even be thinking about marriage. Your mother and I met in college, in college, and got married in out late twenties, and you, you want to get married next summer!"

"I'm going to be 17 years old in two weeks, Daddy! I'll be a legal wizard by then, able to do magic when I see fit. And I am away from home nine months out of the year, so I am hardly a little girl anymore." 

Robert started to drive faster, and his face was getting more color. "Whom are we marrying? It's not that Potter character you mentioned casually over Christmas, the same boy you were out with late at night when you were supposed to be in bed, thus causing your first detention in your life, is it?" Robert made it sound as if James was a common criminal, with the tone of his voice, and to Robert that's exactly what James was.

Lily looked at her palms. She had always been the favorite daughter, and she knew she had been. Whatever she did, she came out on top of the world, and her parents just loved her for it, more than they did before, which Lily thought was impossible. But now's when things got tricky. She knew that when she brought home the man she wanted to marry, her father would have a heart attack. No man would ever be good enough. Oh sure, Petunia could date whomever she wanted, they never cared, but Lily, their baby girl, their pride and joy, their Princess?

"Yes, the very same," Lily almost whispered.

"No, No, NO! I will not have my daughter marrying some late night walk about, who kisses in a dark secluded room, I won't stand for it!" he yelled.

"Daddy, James isn't a 'late night walk about!' He's a wonderful person, and I love him, and you are not going to stand in my way. I'll be eighteen years old next summer, and you won't be able to say anything about it. You haven't even met him, or spoken to him yet, how do you know he's such a bad person? You'll love him, he's nothing like Vernon."

Amanda smiled at Lily, and put her hand on her husbands shoulders. "I think it's sweet," she said.

"Sweet?" Robert said disgusted, "Sweet? How do you think it's sweet?"

"Oh come now, dear. You can't stop a young girl from falling in love, now can you? We always knew, or I always knew, that our Lily would marry young. She's too kind and beautiful to be single for long, and I think you know that too, Robert. You just don't want to let her go."

"Well I still don't like it. Not at all. I'll just have to meet this Potter. What are his goals, his aspirations, his physical desires?"

Lily laughed. "'Physical desires? Daddy!"

"Now you listen to me, Princess. When I was a young boy that's all I wanted: Physical. And you can't convince me that John doesn't think the same way."

"His name is James, and he's not the same way. He's the top student in the school, he's got the best grades, he's Quidditch captain, well respected and liked, very kind and gentle, and positively cute."

"Whatever.." Robert said. He kept mumbling to himself, the word "Potter" could be heard occasionally. "I thought you said that you wanted to live with us. Forever," Robert said to Lily.

"Daddy, I said that when I was five. I didn't think I would ever want to leave then. But that was eleven years ago. I've grown up."

"I was hoping that you would never change your mind," Robert said, a note of sadness in his voice. "You can stay with us as long as you want, you know that right?"

"Yeah, I know that."  
  


Once they had arrived home, her parents helped her unload her trunk and take it up to her room. It looked the same as she had left it a year ago. The walls were a very light blue, almost white. Her bed was centered in the middle, covered in a powder blue spread, with white pillows on the end. She had various posters on her walls: Unicorns dancing in purple streams, baby angels asleep in the clouds, and a single poster of John Lennon, a man from a muggle musical group known as "The Beatles." She loved John Lennon, he reminded her of James, especially in this picture. His hair was a bit longer, but messy and black, and he wore round glasses, just like James.

On her ceiling were dozens of glow in the dark stars that her mother had given her once when she was very young. She had never taken them down, even though she knew they were quite juvenile. But some how they comforted her when it was dark and stormy outside. She knew it was silly, but could never remove even one.

She lay down on her bed and sighed. What a day it had already been, and what days to come. Lily leaned over on her side to look at her night-stand. On it was a single photograph, in a frame. It was a picture she had taken of James just before Christmas. She looked at him, and smiled, then looked at her ring, and smiled even more.

"So what are you doing now?" she asked.  
  


* * * * *

"We brought over all your stuff, and all of you're parent's things. Your belongings are in the guest room, your new room, just down the hall from Sirius," Jen said to James as she took him to his new room. He tried to look happy about it, but he wasn't. It was still hard to believe that his mother and father weren't waiting for him across the street. He didn't like the new empty feeling that was filling his insides, but there wasn't anything anyone could say to assuage it.

"I know what you must be thinking," Jen said to him, "And it will take some getting used to, but in time you'll feel much better. You know the rules, you've spent half of your life over here, anyways, just don't set the house on fire, or the neighbors, and try not to blow up anything," She smiled at him, and he returned the favor, but still couldn't say anything. "Help yourself to anything you'd like, James. If you need me, or Mitch or anything at all, you know where to find us." She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek before she left.

James looked around at his new room. Clearly the Blacks had taken all measures necessary to make this room look like his old one, and he appreciated it. It was still hard to believe that his parents weren't across the street waiting for him in his own house. What he would give to see them for just one last time, and say goodbye. But he couldn't, because Voldemort had ripped them from him, taken his family, and he would never forget that.

"Oh my," Sirius said sighing as he came in and threw himself on the bed. "What a day it has been. So much excitement and the summer has yet to begin. So this wedding of yours, I'll be the best man, of course."

James smiled, "But of course. No one else could fill the bill."

"So it's a lack of options, then. It's not because you have known me since forever?" he asked grinning.

"That's right Sirius, it is due to lack of options. Who else would I have do it? It wouldn't be right if you weren't up there with me, telling me I am doing the right thing."

"How do you know that's what I'll say? Maybe I'll tell you to run for it an move to Iceland," he joked. James laughed.

"I'll be so nervous I might just do that. But running across the Atlantic ocean will prove difficult. But that's not for a while. I am so glad that she said yes. For a moment I was thinking she would say no, and I would have keeled over right there."

"My parents would have a coronary if I told them I proposed to some girl I had been dating for less than a year. Way less than a year, mind you. Of course I can't even keep a girl for that long. For that, I congratulate you and honor you."

"Thanks," James said smiling, sitting down on a chair and staring out the window. He beamed as he thought of his life with her, almost wanting to skip the seventh year of school.

"So where are you going to live?" Sirius asked as he sat up.

"I have no idea," James replied.

"That's good. Maybe a box on the street, then you wouldn't have to pay rent, and you could move easily from place to place."

James snorted with laughter. "Are you ever serious, Sirius?" he asked.

"You know, that would almost be funny if I hadn't heard it all the time. And yes, I can be. Ok, this is me being serious. Why did they have to name me that? Ok, I digress, what are you going to do for a living? Some how I just can't see Lily wanting you fighting the Dark Arts in Africa, like you father did, so what are you going to do?"

James looked at him a while and thought to himself. What was he going to do? He had never really given it much thought. He liked to play Quidditch more than study, well, he never really studied. He was certain that Lily wouldn't like him traveling all over the world playing for an international Quidditch team, so that was out. He was best at Transfiguration, but what could he do with that?

"I have no idea," James said to him. "What am I going to do?"

"How can you expect me to be serious with an answer like that?" he asked strait faced.

"Well, they left me a huge sum of money, more than I could ever imagine, so it's not like I need to decide right away. And I have decided to sell my house, I want to start a family in a different one, and selling it will give me more money. I don't have to decide on a career right away. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, probably the same thing as you. But I don't have a wife to support. Oh, and then there's the other thing."

"What other thing?" James asked.

"Come on, James. Don't be naive. You know Lily's going to want kids. Then you'll have them to deal with. Stinky diapers, late nights, no more time alone with her, you can count on that."

"Do you not like children?" James asked, "I wouldn't mind. Actually I think it would be great."

"Yeah, that's what you say now, just wait till they pee all over you, and cry all the time. It's not that I don't like kids, I love them actually, just as long as I don't have to care for them personally. I don't want to change a diaper."

"Who does want to change one. I can hear Lily now, 'Oh please, please let me change it this time, you go to do it last time' it's a conversation that is neither spoken nor heard. Besides, it's a little early in the game to be thinking about that. I've been engaged for a good hour, and you are talking to me about babies. Just wait a minute, till next summer anyway."  
  


* * * * *

Two uneventful weeks passed, unless you want to count Lily throwing cautions to the winds.

"No, James, you cannot come over here. If my father sees you, he'll kill you, and I am not exaggerating."

"I think you're being a bit jumpy. He hasn't even met me yet, what if he likes me?" James responded.

"He almost ran into a lamp post when I told him about you, people were honking at us for the reckless driving. Just imagine if you walked into his house. No, I appreciate the fact that you want to see me, but my 17th birthday will be much better if I know that you are breathing."

When her birthday did arrive, an official letter from Hogwarts came, it read:  
  


Dear Miss. Evans,

Congratulations on your 17th Birthday! Today marks an important time in your life, when you can step into the legal wizarding age, and look back onto your childhood. Being a legal witch as you are now, you can preform magic at home, being careful around muggles. Any illegal spells or careless use of Magic will result in various reprimands from large fines to prison Terms.  
  


Again, congratulations,  
  


Minerva McGonnagal  
  


Lily decided that she would master her great natural talents, the magic she could preform without a wand, which was greatly improving. When she awoke in the morning, she could open the curtains without lifting a finger, and the doors opened before she reached for them. In the morning she could brush her teeth, while her hair brush took on a life of its own and brushed her hair. At the breakfast table the salt and pepper shakers flew into her hands before she could even utter the words, "would you please pass the salt." And when some neighborhood teenagers asked her if she wanted to play basketball, she of course accepted the challenge, and amazed all of them with her perfect shots. Her parents were very pleased with this talent, and smiled all the while.

You could say that things were going swimmingly for Lily that summer, she was planning on taking the Knight bus to Godric's Hollow to visit James very soon, but then something came up.

"Lily dear," her mother said, as she came into her room one after noon, "We're going out to dinner this evening, as a family."

"Alright," she said, "I'll just get a dress ready." But Amanda didn't move. She looked as though there was something else that she needed to say. "What is it, mum?"

"Well," she hesitated, "it won't be just the three of us, this evening, I fear."

"Petunia's going isn't she?" Lily asked, Amanda nodded, "and Vernon too, then?" Again, she nodded. "That's it, right?" Lily dreaded what her mother was going to say.

"And his family is also going. Sorry, dear," she said, but it was clear that she was also feeling sorry for herself.

"How many family member does he have?"

"Just his parents, and his sister. Just one big happy family," she said sarcastically.

"What's his sister like?" Lily asked.

"Just like him, I fear."

Gross! She thought, but didn't say. A female Vernon was something to make your nose wrinkle, and Lily's did just that. It was quite clear that they didn't like Vernon and his family, but Lily found it honorable that they wanted to keep some kind of connection. Never the less, this was going to be a horrible evening. She was going to have dinner with 8 people, five of which would hate her guts, and if they didn't right away they would by the time the salad came.

"Are you going to be alright?" Amanda asked her.

"Yeah," she responded weakly. If only there was a way to get out of this. But there wasn't. She would just have to keep a stiff upper lip and do it. But my God, what a hassle. There had to be some way to make it more interesting, there just had to be.

"OK," Lily said slowly, rolling her eyes a bit. "I'll get a dress ready then. Where is it, the restaurant, I mean?" Maybe it would be a really nice place, with lots of paintings on the walls, and an orchestra to drown out the boring, mindless, senseless chatter.

"The Elegance, in Norwich. It's a very nice place, suit and tie. We have reservations for 7:30, and the orchestra will be playing."

"OK," she said, with the same drone of a voice.

"Your father and I are going to the store to pick up some things, would you like to join us?" she asked.

Surely James would know how to spice it up a bit, he could make anything more interesting, yes, if only...wait, that's it! James! She would call him! Oh yes this is a good idea!

"No," Lily said with a sudden smile, which simply shocked her mother, "You go on ahead with out me, I'll just stay here and try to make myself look presentable."

Amanda squinted at her, and wanted to say something, but assumed that the old adage was true, "Ignorance is bliss." Amanda left without saying anything, but shaking her head as she joined her husband and headed for the garage.

Once the dust stirred by the Mercedes had settled, Lily ran to her trunk, opened it and rummaged to the bottom to find a small glass flask which was filled with dark metallic purple powder. This powder enabled her to talk to people in the wizarding world through fire, it was how she talked to James and all of her friends. Jade had given it to her on the train back home. She took it in her hands and ran downstairs to the living room. With a snap of her fingers, a roaring fire emerged, she pinched some of the powder, and threw it in. "James Potter," she spoke clearly. In a rush of flames, Lily could see a living room, empty for the moment, but some one had to pick up.

Lily sat on the coffee table while she waited momentarily for James to answer. When someone did come, two minutes later, it wasn't James, but Sirius.

"Why it's Lily!" he said smiling, "How are you?"

"I could be better, you?" she had to go with the pleasantries, Sirius was a good friend.

"I'm fine. My parents stepped out a bit. What's on your mind?"

"I need to talk to James," she said. To her surprise, Sirius frowned.

"You can't," he said suddenly.

"Why not?" he had never refused to talk to her.

"You just can't. He can't talk to you right now."

"Is he mad at me?"

"Don't be silly, he just can't talk."

"Sirius, what's wrong, did you do something to him?" she asked suspiciously, after all, his parents were not in the house, anything was possible.

"He's out of commission for the time being."

Out of commission? What did that mean? Was this some secret phrase they used around each other, like those weird nick names?

"What do you mean he's 'out of commission?'" she asked slowly.

"He's having some problems, with....well...you know..." he said quietly, almost a whisper.

"No," she said, "I don't know. What's the problem?"

"Well, he's having some difficulty with his, well...reflexes....maybe."

"Sirius," Lily said loudly, "Is this some male thing, or what? I'll be living with him in a year from now, I think you can tell me what's wrong with him."

"He's ill."

"Ill, how so?" she asked.

"He had a bad reaction to my mother's cooking, and he's been puking all afternoon," he said bluntly.

"Puking?" she didn't know if she had heard it right.

"Yeah, Puking," Sirius said, "you know, up-chucking, vomiting, spewing his guts out, tossing his cookies, worshiping the porcelain god, bar-"

Lily held up her hand, "I know what puking is Sirius, you don't need to give me all the English expressions for it. Is he going to be alright, does he need to see a doctor, should I go over there to be with him?" 

"Yes, no, no," he answered. "He was like this last week, it's just sensitivity, he'll get over it. But my god, you should see his face. It's as green as I'll get out. But not to worry, in a few hours he'll be as good as new. Well, maybe not new, maybe old. Maybe used, even. How can you look as good as new?" he asked sharply.

"I don't know," she said dismissing it quickly. "So you're sure he'll be fine?" 

"Positive. Now, what did you want to say to him, I can relay the message." Now Lily's cry for help didn't seem so desperate, with him being so violently sick. She would just deal with them on her own.

"Oh, it's nothing really," she said waving her hand casually, but Sirius had known her long enough to know when she was fibbing.

"You can tell me Lily, you can tell me anything, you know that, right?" he said soothingly. Lily looked into his face.

"Well, it's just that....oh, never mind, it's not a big deal."

"If it wasn't a big deal, then why did you call? Come on, spill it out."

"I am having dinner with my sister and her husband's family, and I know that they will all hate me, and they are all boring, and rude. And I wanted to talk to James to ask what to do with the whole mess, if there was anyway that I could do to make it more interesting," she said quickly.

"You wanted him to go with you, didn't you?" he asked with a devilish grin. "Show all of them what you could get, in comparison with your sister, right?"

Lily hesitated as she looked back at him, then a smirk crept onto her lips. "Maybe just a little," she admitted. Sirius laughed loudly, Lily giggled a bit.

"Well," Sirius said, "James definitely can't go, unless you want him to puke on everyone. But if you want some help, I would be only to happy to comply. This situation of yours has many possibilities."

Lily thought about it for a little while. What would be the harm? Sirius was the next best thing, and did know a lot about messing with peoples minds. 

"Yes, I would love it if you helped me out of this. What do you have in mind?"

Sirius grinned, "This is what we can do..."  
  


It was a somber journey on the way to the Elegance. It was quite clear that no one, even her parents, wanted to have this dinner, but saw it as a very necessary precaution between families. Many times Robert opened his mouth and raised his pointer finger to say something important and diplomatic, but words failed him; unmistakable grunts came out of his mouth instead. 

Robert was dressed in one of his best suits, Amanda was wearing a dark green dress, almost black, with a black wrap to match. But Lily was dressed the best of all. She had made some magical adjustments to a simple dress that she had in her closet, and it looked spectacular.

When they pulled up to the front of the restaurant the valet opened the doors. First Amanda's, and she got out as if she had never done this before. She nearly tripped on the red carpet that lined the small entrance way. Then he opened Lily's back door. When he reached in to take her hand, he stopped breathing at the sight of her, as did the crowd that was gathered around the entrance. He lifted her out of the seat an onto the carpet, she rose like a Queen, and looked like an enchantress.

She wore a pure white dress, made of the finest silk in the world. The sleeves fit snugly around her upper arms, leaving her shoulders and neck bare. Her tiny waist was accentuated, and a slit on the left side exposed her leg up to just above her knee, but was very tasteful. Around her neck she wore the opaline pendant that James had given her for Christmas, and her hair, which usually fell to her waist, was up in a curled bun. She looked like a goddess, no man could resist her mesmerizing looks.

"Here you go, my boy," Robert said to the valet, who if his mouth were opened just bit wider it would touch the ground; he was speechless. Everyone else in the restaurant reacted the same way. The doorman nearly slammed the door on an elderly couple as he watched Lily glide by him. The man taking the reservations had to be pinched by one of his waitresses, who was not so impressed by Lily's appearance, before he could take them to their seats.

Petunia and the Dursleys were already seated at a very long table very close to the orchestra. Petunia had her blonde hair curled, as her lips were: savage. Vernon was looking very round indeed, his buttons on his grey suit were causing tension marks around his stomach. There was a plump woman and a very large man sitting next to him, they must be his parents. Well, the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree, does it? They both had mousy brown hair, and there noses were sticking high in the air. Then there was a very large woman sitting near the other end of the table, wearing an obnoxious purple dress, and a funny looking hat. She had flushed cheeks and lots of eye makeup, perhaps to distract the viewers eye from what looked like a mustache above her upper lip. She was grasping a full wine glass in her thick fingers, the wine bottle close by her.

Petunia stood up when she saw her parents enter the dining area, as did the others at the table. She smiled at her mother and father, but when she saw Lily, she looked down at her feet, and then scanned her entire body till she reached her face, with which she stared into. The whole process was much like a General inspecting his troops before battle.

"Hello, Petunia," Lily said politely to her.

"Hello," she responded formally. Then she moved to her in-laws, "Mom, Dad, you remember Cindy and Victor from the Wedding, and Vernon's sister, Marge." Marge got up half way and raised her half empty wine glass to them.

"I don't remember meeting this beautiful young lady," Victor said to Petunia as he reached out to shake her hand. Lily smiled, Petunia just walked over and sat down next to Vernon.

"This is our youngest daughter, Lily," Robert said, coming to the rescue. He smiled proudly as he put his hand around her waist. Victor recoiled a bit, but took her hand.

"Well, Petunia did mention you a few times," he said, though looking increasingly uncomfortable with the subject, "But she never mentioned how lovely you are."

"Imagine that," Lily said lightly. Once the introductions had been carried out, poorly I may add, they sat down. Lily sat across from Marge, and next to her father, who seemed like he wanted to keep close tabs on her.

"The bulldog is one of the finest breeds Great Britain has," Marge said informatively about half an hour into the dinner. Lily started picking at her salad, and swirling the croutons around the plate, like they were racing. "I have ten dogs right now, but Maurice is my champion. He travels with me everywhere, insists on coming. He's also a great protection for when I travel, no one breaks into my car when he's in the passenger seat. I was telling my neighbor just the other day about Maurice and his battles against people who are parked next to me," she laughed greatly, as she filled her wine glass to the brim. "Oh, well. My other dog, Betty, she's just the opposite of Maurice, though she is also a champion," Bla, bla, bla, Lily thought as she watched Marge's five chins wobble incessantly as she gabbed about her dogs. No one cares about you dogs! SHUT UP! Please, for the love of God, SHUT UP!!! 

"The pedigree is so sacred, don't you agree Mr. Evans? May I call you Robert?" You can call him Bobbie if you shut up already with the dogs! But Robert was staring into a painting that was just above Marge's head. Lily pinched his side.

"Yes, yes, of course. Absolutely right you are!" he said suddenly. Lily bit her lip to keep from laughing. Marge didn't find this funny at all, so she poured herself some more wine. Down at the other end of the table, Cindy was boring Amanda with Vernon's accomplishments at business school. Lily didn't think that her mother was actually listening, but just nodding and smiling to keep her happy. Victor and Vernon were discussing the bulls and bears of the London stock exchange, while Petunia smiled and nodded with the conversation. Where is he? It's already eight o'clock and this woman in the violent purple has been talking about her stupid dogs all night! HELP ME!!!!!! she screamed in her head. She decided to turn back to Marge, she was still on about dogs.

"So, Libby," she said to Lily.

"My name's Lily," she corrected her politely. Marge gave her a cold look.

"Whatever, do you like dogs?" Of all the things she could have asked, she had to bring it around to herself? How can anyone be so self absorbed? How could you be that shallow and still breath?

"Yeah, I like some. Small ones, mostly," she said.

"Some?" Marge asked disgusted. "Have you ever had a dog?"

"Well, I wanted one when I was younger, but Petunia isn't fond of dogs, so we didn't get one, isn't that right Daddy?" she pinched him again.

"Oh yes, yes of course. You're absolutely right!" he said. "I was just looking at this painting here," he said, pointing to the piece just above Marge's hideous hat, "Isn't it lovely." It was. The painting was of a very mountainous place, Yosemite to be exact, a tourist place in America. There was a large glass lake, and a family of deer were crowed around a small section of the painting. The light pierced the clouds and reflected on the lake and the snow capped mountains. "I would love to see a place like that some time," he said. 

"It's beautiful," Lily said thoughtfully. "Don't you think so, Marge?" But Marge wasn't paying any attention. She was looking at a point between Roberts' and Lily's heads, and smiling widely. Then she made some very funny gestures and facial expressions. First she winked and giggled, then she pursed her lips as if to kiss someone, then she waved with her sausage like fingers to whoever was over at that end of the room. Lily had to say something.

"Marge, who are you looking at?" she asked.

"There is a very hansom young man, sitting alone at that table. He has been looking at me!" she giggled again. Lily turned around slowly to get a look at this man, who must be blind to be flirting with Marge. As she turned in her chair and saw the man, she felt a warmth pass through her body, it was Sirius. He was wearing a tuxedo, with a dark grey vest underneath it, and a black bow tie. A crimson carnation was delicately placed on his left breast. He was seated alone, with a small glass of white Chardonnay in his hands. When he saw Lily, he winked. Lily turned around quickly.

"He is very hansom, Marge," she said, very much enjoying the irony of the situation.

"Isn't he though," she poured more wine. "Oh my goodness, he's coming this direction, no wait, he's going to the Orchestra, now he's coming over here, he's coming over here! Oh Lily, how do I look?" she started putting on more eye make up. Lily couldn't help but laugh.

Sirius came to the end of the table with a majestic presence. All of the conversations stopped, as everyone at the table looked at the young hansom man with a impressive physique. Marge was beside herself with joy.

"Good evening," he said warmly, then he turned to look at Robert, "I was wondering, if I may have your permission to ask you daughter to dance with me?" Lily looked at her father surprised but happy all the same. Robert looked again at the young man and smiled.

"Yes," he said jovially, "yes you may," he liked people who asked for his permission to dance with his daughter. 

Sirius extended his hand for her to take, and bowed to kiss it as she slowly got up. Lily looked quickly at Petunia, who was cold faced, then to Marge who was looked as though she could fry a steak on her face. Sirius escorted her to the middle of the floor, a good forty feet from her family's table.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, as he placed one hand around her waist, and the other in his, "it took me forever to find a Duxeto, and Mum had to give me a quick lesson in dancing."

"You're doing very well, like a professional, but Sirius, it's a 'tuxedo' not a Duxeto. How is he?" she asked.

"Oh, well he tried to drink water, but apparently he's not ready for that step yet, so he tossed it."

"Oh my, the poor thing!" she said sadly.

"Well, he was feeling well enough to laugh at me when he saw this penguin suit that I am wearing, of course then he threw up again. You should have seen how pale and green he looked, oh he felt like bloody hell, poor devil. So why don't you tell me about all of these characters," he said nodding over to the group, who were all watching Lily and him waltz across the floor.

"Well, the one across from me and my father, that's Marge, Vernon's sister, she's been talking about dogs the entire time, and thought that you were flirting with her."

"The sister of the idiot that married your sister, got it."

Lily laughed, "That's her alright. The one sitting next to her is Cindy Dursley, Vernon's mother. She's been talking to my mother about her son's accomplishments and boring her to death. Next to her is Petunia and Vernon, who has been discussing the London Stock Exchange with his father the whole evening."

"Stock exchange?" Sirius asked.

"A muggle currency system. It's very complex, not even I can understand it. So now you are up to date."

"Excellent. So what do want to do to these poor saps?"

"I just don't want to go back to that table, they are driving me mad. Just dance with me for now, they are tiring me with their boring, condescending yip yap." She sighed and closed her eyes. Sirius was a very good dancer, it was almost rhythmic. "And you just learned how to dance, today?"

"Yeah, I'm a fast learner."

Lily leaned her head against his chest so that her face wasn't looking in the direction of her table. Sirius looked down at her and smiled weakly, his heart rate increasing steadily. "Tired?" he asked.

"Yeah, you don't mind do you? I'm not trying to tell you anything, or pull a fast one, you know that, right?" she asked, making sure he understood her motives.

"Yeah, of course!" but afterwards she could hear his heart slowing to a normal rate. It was nice being away from that horrible situation, with those horrible people and with a friend. When the music stopped, Lily reluctantly pulled away and applauded with the rest of the dancing couples. Lily looked over to her table and saw that her parents were smiling. Robert was signaling for her to bring Sirius over to join them.

"They want to meet you," she said to him, "Are you ready?"

"Born ready, but you're not going to tell them who I really am, are you?"

"No way. This is how it's going to work. You are Sylvester Black, a pre-med student at Oxford University studying to become a pediatrician."

"Wait, can you go over that again, in English. I don't know anything about the muggle way," he said nervously.

"I told you four that you need to take muggle studies years ago, but you just didn't listen. A pre-med student is one who is studying medicine to become a doctor. You are studying at Oxford University, a very prestigious school, to learn how to be a pediatrician, a doctor for children," she explained slowly.

"A doctor? Lily, I can't stand the sight of blood, can't I be something else?"

"It's just for fun, Sirius, you know, make believe," she said clearly mocking him, but he was still uneasy. "Ok, what are you good at besides finding all possible ways to break rules?"

"Quidditch, testing, dating women, transfiguration and making funny noises with my teeth."

"Do you know anything about Shakespeare?" she asked.

"What's Shakespeare?" he asked.

"Then you're definitely a doctor. Don't worry about it, just play along, my parents will love you. You can do this Sylvester, I know you can, you pull this stuff all the time."

She took his hand and started for the table, smiling all the while.

"Isn't your father a doctor, won't he piece it together?" he whispered just before they reached her table.

"Everyone," Lily said very loudly to all who sat at the table, "This is Sylvester Black. Sylvester, this is Marge, my father Robert and mother Amanda Evans, and Cindy and Victor Dursley, and that's my sister Petunia, and her husband Vernon."

"Nice to meet your acquittances," he said politely, his usual confident air was absent. Sirius sat down on a chair next to Lily which was provided by Mr. Evans who was glad to see a young man that wasn't going to be kissing his daughter in a haunted bathroom.

"So," Mr. Evans said, "Tell me about yourself, Sylvester."

The moment of truth, Lily crossed her fingers under the table.

"Well," Sirius said, "I'm not an extraordinary guy, really. I am still going to school."

Already impressed by his modesty, Mr. Evans pressed on, Amanda smiled brightly, Petunia shot Lily a nasty look. "Really? A college man, excellent. Where are you attending?"

"Oxford," Sirius said nonchalantly. Mr. Evans smiled with delight.

"Oxford! Well done! Well tell us more, what are you studying?"

Sirius cleared his throat, "Medicine. I hope to be a pediatrician not to far off, and work with children."

"A Doctor!" he said excited, "A Doctor! You're going to be a Doctor! Well, we go out one night and my baby girl finds a doctor, good job sweetie," he said to Lily just before he kissed her. Lily saw the look on Petunia's face and wanted to laugh. Marge's was even greater, her eye was twitching, yet she never stopped drinking. "You know," he continued, "I am also a doctor, vascular surgeon to be precise. Just the other day I had to preform an operation the other day on a man who had obviously been on a bad diet. His arteries were very badly clogged, the lining was caked with garbage. It'll make you think before you eat a piece of pie, that's for sure. Doctor Simmons and I had to preform. We cut standard incisions and took out the old artery and cleared it out, the blood spilling everywhere, it was a mess, but he's fine now."

Sirius grinned, but took a huge sip of water. He couldn't help but think of an man being strapped against his will to a table as doctors sliced open his leg and yanked out his artery, blood spilling everywhere. "That's... fascinating," he said.

"What made you want to be a doctor, Sylvester?" Amanda asked, very curious about this young man. Petunia rolled her eyes, Cindy and Victor examined him more carefully. 

Sirius smiled at them for a while, thinking of what to say. "Well," he began, "I really don't know why. I have always liked helping people, especially people that can't help themselves: children. There's just something about looking into their innocent eyes and saying, 'don't worry, everything's going to be fine,' and know that you can help them. So I guess that's why I am going to Med school."

Amanda could have melted, Robert beamed at him, everyone else tried not to hurl. Lily was very pleased with her choice, though she was confident that if James didn't have his head hovering over a toilet, he could do just as well.

"So have you preformed any pre med operations, Sylvester?" Robert asked enthusiastically.

"Actually," Sirius said, reflecting on the last September, "I have. It was just last September, I was out hunting with my friends, and my friend...William," he thought quickly, "mistook my friend John for a young buck, so he shot him on accident. It was a bloody mess, let me tell you. We were miles away from the hospital so I had to yank the arrow out myself and mend it up the best I could. It all turned out for the best, he's fine."

Robert and Amanda looked at him with admiration and respect, Petunia looked as though she could spit.

"But enough about me," Sirius said, "I would like to hear about all of you. So Marge," Sirius said looking at her. Marge, however, looked daggers at him. "I hear you like dogs."

"Have you?" She asked bitterly. "Is that what, she, told you? Is that what the two of you were talking about the whole time? I did think that you two were having a great conversation for people who just met."

"As did I," Petunia agreed. Lily gave her a stern look which resulted in glass of red wine spilling in her lap. Sirius had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. Petunia started mumbling to herself, but no one could understand her.

"Actually," Sirius continued, "She did. She mentioned that you bred dogs as a matter of fact. Said that you had been talking about it the entire time. Must be important to you."

Marge gave a very fake smile to him as she refilled her wine glass. 

"Let me ask you something, Sylvester, did you say?" Petunia asked full of malice. "You say you are joining the Medical profession for the pleasure of it, you're not doing it for the fast cars, the nice house and the vacation house in Majorca?"

"No, I'm not. Money doesn't buy happiness, as I am sure you know, Mrs. Dursley," Sirius said with a smile. Petunia recoiled.

"Are you meaning to say that my wife is unhappy with me?" Vernon spoke finally.

"I never said that," Sirius answered, clearly getting the effect that he wanted.

"Well," Robert said, "Isn't it lovely weather were having?"

"I don't believe your story," Marge said with disgust. "The both of you are liars." And then it happened. The anger inside of her had finally reached it's limit. Lily looked at Marge, but did not hear her, though she was clearly speaking. The wine glass in her hand, full to the brim with expensive red wine, burst into a hundred tiny pieces. Marge screamed, Petunia stood up, Sirius, Amanda and Robert all remained silent, but Lily laughed, loud and long and clear.

Marge stared at her, mystified by her lack of insanity. "You!" she said to Lily. She stopped laughing but stared at Marge.

"What?" Lily asked snottily. "You think it's my fault that your glass burst? Maybe you shouldn't accuse people of lying, especially when you don't even know them."

"I don't like your tone," Marge said.

"Tough," Lily replied as she got up and left the table. Sirius got up and ran after her, when he caught up with her, she was laughing. "Did you see the looks on all of their faces?"

"Yeah, Marge's panties are all in a wad," he said.

"Eww. That's a horrible mental picture, those are awfully big panties."

"You got that right. Look, I am sorry that I caused so much turmoil here. I know that wasn't your intention. Things got a little out of hand."

"It's not your fault. I was the one who lost my temper. I don't like being called a liar by some fat ugly woman who raises bulldogs and yaps about them. I'm just glad that you came. Imagine if I had to take them on by myself."

Sirius smiled at her. "One last dance?" he asked, raising his hand.

"Sure," she said putting her hand in his, "one last dance." Even in the middle of the dance floor, they could still hear the arguing coming from the table. Lily tuned them out and just danced. It was one thing that she just loved to do, ever since she was a little girl. Sirius twirled her around and brought her back to him.

"I have to go, I don't want to be hanging around to long as to blow our cover," he said winking.

"Thanks so much for coming, you saved me."

"It was probably better that I came, instead of James. He would have been scared to death of meeting those people and thinking, 'I have to see them on the holidays.'"

"No," Lily said firmly, "he won't. We'll never see them, ever. I hate them, and I don't hate anyone. I look at my sister and her husband and I just feel so sorry for her. There just doesn't seem to be any passion there. There isn't magic in her eyes when she looks at him, or talks of him."

"You don't think she loves him, do you?"

"I don't know. She and I are very different. Perhaps she does, but she doesn't love the same way I do. We'll just have to see what happens."

"Well, I must go," he said. He bent his neck to kiss her cheek lightly, "Goodnight Lily. You come and see us soon, you hear?"

"Yeah. Would you tell-"

"Yes. I will tell Sir-Barfs-o-lot that you love him and la la la, all that romantic stuff you two say to each other."

She smiled. "Thanks. You're a great friend, Sirius."

"As are you. I'll be seeing you." And with that, Sirius smiled one more time, and left out the main door. Lily turned back to her table and let out a deep sigh. They were all up in arms, fighting over Lily, she just knew it.

She walked slowly back, her feet falling heavy on the tile. Before she even reached the table, however, Petunia stomped over to meet her. She looked simply like a bursting volcano.

"You evil bitch!" she said to her, spitting accidently on Lily's face. Lily wiped it off with her the back of her hand. 

"Oh that hurts, coming from some one as close as you. Thanks for inviting me to your wedding, it was very considerate of you," Lily said sarcastically.

"I know that was you, with your freak like abnormalities, shattering her glass and spilling mine. I know that you are a liar, you know that man. He's a friend of yours at that freak school, isn't he? You can play into Mommy and Daddy's hands but you can't fool me for a second."

Lily watched her intently, letting her vent and fume at her, silently. But once Petunia was done raving, Lily laughed.

"No, I didn't know him," she lied, "And what if it was I who shattered the glasses? Are you going to tell her? Or are you going to leave it to fate? Wouldn't it be fun to tell her who I really am, that I attend a school of magic, and delve into the world of the unknown, of deep philosophy, which has been hidden for centuries. That people like you, who are so clouded and visioned so blurred that you can't even see past you noses. Go tell her, Petunia, tell her that the reason you hate me with so much passion is because I am a witch, literally. Go on, I dare you."

Petunia looked at her with total loathing. "I hate you."

"Yes, I have noticed." But Lily wasn't going to end like this. She had to come out as the better person, as the one on top, the one who could forgive. She smiled pleasantly at Petunia. "But I am sorry, for losing my temper with your new sister-in-law. I should have tried harder to contain my temper, and not have let my emotions get the best of me. Please accept my sincere apology." Lily smiled at her, and continued on to her parents. Petunia stood silent and uncomfortable. She turned to watch Lily go, and gave her a strange look.

"Don't you dare speak that way about my daughter!" Robert yelled to Victor and Cindy who were voicing that she was an abnormal teenager with a horrid temper. Amanda was also quite upset by this, and stared at them with evil eyes. Other guests in the restaurant were looking very entertained as they watched the drama unfold.

"THAT'S IT!" Robert said loudly, "We're leaving!" And he grabbed his coat, took Amanda and Lily by the arm and led them out the main double doors. The valet brought the car, and stared at Lily as he handed Robert the keys.

"Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer!" Robert yelled at him. He got into the car, slammed his door, and floored the gas pedal, cursing all the while. "How dare those selfish, rude unpleasant people insult my daughter! Look what they have for children! Fat slobs who talk of nothing but themselves and their damn businesses. Oh how I hate the lot of them," he yelled.

Amanda was too angry to speak, she just stared out the front windshield with out saying a word. It was a while, about ten minutes actually, before they calmed down enough to ask Lily a question that had been weighing on their minds for quite a while.

"Lily?" Amanda asked. Lily decided right away there that whatever they asked, she would tell them the truth, it was what they would expect and would make matters ever so much easier.

"Yes," she said, looking up at her.

"Did you know that young man? Mr. Black, that is." Robert looked in his rear view mirror at her, with kind eyes. Lily took a deep breath before answering.

"Yes, I know him," she said, truly relieved. Robert nodded, showing some disappointment, but seemed to expect it. Amanda smiled weakly. Lily decided to tell them everything. "He's James' best friend. I called James earlier to ask for some help; I didn't want to have dinner with them, I wanted to hear what he thought I could do to keep myself occupied. But he was taken ill, so Sirius, that's his real name, said he'd help me out instead. I told him where to go and what to wear. I told him to lie about being a medical student, and going to Oxford, he doesn't even know about muggle ways. I didn't mean for all of this to happen, to divide our two families like I did. I'm so sorry." But to her amazement, they were not mad, not at all, not even just a little. As a matter of fact, they smiled. Then started to laugh. This upset Lily, for it was very strange behavior.

"What's so funny?" she finally asked, for their humor didn't dissipate over time.

"You're so very clever, Lily," Amanda said. "You really made things so much more interesting. If I had to hear one more word about Vernon from his mother I would have exploded. Thank God for you."

"Oh, and if Marge had continued on with her damn dogs all through out the night, I would have considered suicide in the most horrible way. You added spice to the dinner, Lily, there is no way we could be angry with you. You have saved our lives!" he exclaimed, Amanda agreed. Lily was still shocked.

"But I have severed our link with them, isn't that bad?"

"You haven't known them long enough, my dear," Amanda explained. "If only you had been present for the wedding planning. We wanted to sever our link, but didn't know how."

"Then you came and saved us," Robert added. "We owe you the world. Now I don't have to worry about seeing those people all together ever again. We will of course be having Petunia for Christmas, but without her in-laws, thank God."

Lily was surprised by their reaction but certainly not disappointed. Once they arrived back home, they separated. Robert and Amanda went upstairs, but Lily ran to her room, threw off her shoes, and grabbed the vial with the magical purple powder. Then she went down stairs to the fire place. With a snap of her fingers the fire roared, and she added a pinch of the powder to it.

"Sirius Black," She spoke clearly. In a rush of flames she saw the same living room, but this time another took the call.

"Lily, what a very pleasant surprise," James said, though feebly. Lily smiled, glad that he had answered.

"How are you feeling?" 

"Well, as you can probably tell, not so hot, but much better than earlier." Lily could see that he looked a bit pale, and there was perspiration on his forehead. He slumped down in a chair, looking very weak. "But you had a much more...interesting night, I daresay," he smiled.

"Yes, so you've heard. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting, but didn't lack any flare."

James chuckled. "That Marge sounded a bit testy."

"She was. A bit of a snotty women, her and her blasted dogs all evening. What a nightmare she was."

"Sirius told me everything, with in depth analysis and commentary. I really wish I could have been there. Sirius had a blast with them."

"It is quite funny now that it's all over. I must admit to you that I can see why the four of you run around the school driving everyone mad. It is rather enjoyable," she giggled.

"So the mighty tree has finally fallen! I think I've had a bad influence on you," he smirked. "At least I think I should be given the credit for the corruption of your once-so-innocent mind. Perhaps you'd like to join us in our...plundering next year."

"Not so fast, lets' just take this one step at a time."

"Fair enough."

"So, what did you eat that caused this sickness of yours?" she asked.

"Curry. I don't know what I was thinking. Sure it was worth it while eating, but not after that. I am just not used to it. Sirius is running around just fine, and he had seconds."

"Well, I am glad that you are at least feeling better."

"How are you parents handling this?"

"Rather well. They called me a hero for splitting us into two very separate families. They hated them just as much, or more, than I did. They were a bit stuck up."

"From what Sirius told me, I wouldn't send my worst enemy on them," he said. "Well," he thought, "Maybe Snape. Oh, definitely Snape, and McClintick. Ok, all of Slytherin house."

Lily laughed. Just then she heard footsteps on the stairs.

"I've gotta go," she said to him, "see you later."

"Ok, goodbye," and with a 'poof' the fire extinguished. 

"Who were you talking too?" Robert asked.

"James," she said cautiously. "I told him about tonight, and asked him how he felt. You know, just stuff." Robert looked at her, but said nothing.

"I'm going to bed, then," she said, "It's been a very busy day, and I'm tired. I'll see you in the morning daddy." She bent down to kiss him, which he returned, and then she skipped off to bed, remembering the look on Marge's face, as the red wine trickled onto her dress.


	13. The Summer In Between: Part Two

*** The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn' to be sold, reproduced or taken as true. The main characters and most locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. No copyright infringement is intended.***

Pronunciation guide: Louis: LU ee, Jean Luc: zhAHn Luke, B' ellana: bell ANNA

The Summer in Between

Part Two

"One of God's greatest's gifts is friendship."

The Summer was going well, for some. For others the summer was a painful reminder of home, and the tone that it took. Remus Lupin made it look to his friends that he was glad to be going back home, but he was secretly wishing he could go back with James and Sirius instead.

Today, in the middle of July, Mr. and Mrs. Lupin were having a terrible fight, which could be heard all the way to the attic, where Remus would stay when they had very heated arguments. Remus had spent many days in the attic thus far; they fought most of the time. He thought it might be better if they would get a divorce, but knew they wouldn't. They would argue about anything and everything, things you wouldn't believe people could ever argue about. He had stopped trying to interfere with them long ago. He had even stopped listening to what they were fighting about, it didn't matter anymore. He was sure that there was a time when they weren't at each other's throats, but that was too far back for him to remember.

The friction in the family began the day it had happened, when life as the Lupin's had known it changed forever. Changed in a way no family ever wants it to change.

It was a sunny day, in the summer to be precise. The Lupin's were too quiet to live in the hubbub of the city, so they lived on the forests edge in Beulah, Wales. Mr. Lupin had small work at the Ministry to do, and Mrs. Lupin worked in her garden with Remus by her side. He was just a small three year old back then and didn't know any better when he followed several small rabbits into the forest. He tried to catch the furry little creatures, but they were just out of his reach, so he continued the pursuit. It wasn't until he was deep into the forest that he began to realize that he was lost, alone and with out his mother. When he looked strait up into the sky and saw that it was night , the full moon piercing the leave less trees so that the branches looked like dark outstretched fingers, he started to panic.

He called out to his mom and began to cry but she didn't come to him. He started to run deeper into the forest hoping to find something that could give him some hope, but to no avail. He kept calling for his mother, then his father but they didn't seem hear him. It was the first memory that Remus had, almost as if it was yesterday. He had never been so scared in his life. 

He called for her again, but this time something else answered. He turned to see what it was, but only saw the rustling bushes, and heard low growling. Remus turned the other way and started to run. Run as fast as his small legs could carry him. But then it hit him in an instant. It seemed to have pounced him from behind, knocking him onto the ground, cutting Remus' nose on the rocks and bark that littered the forest floor. Whatever it was that hit him, it began biting him, all over his small body. He screamed as loud as he could; the pain was astounding. 

Then he saw her, she was running towards him screaming his name, wand in her hand. When she lay her eyes on him, she cried great tears. His father just came behind her, looking horrified, as he lowered his wand and mumbled a spell which shot the beast right off of Remus's back. His mother ran to him as fast as she could and scooped him up in her arms, crying. Then Mr. Lupin, with a strong look of determination, walked over to the beast and killed it.

They knew right then and there what that beast was and knew that from then on things would never be the same. It was a werewolf. Blame had been placed on his mother from his father ever since. She insisted that it was no ones fault, as did Remus. But that didn't stop all the quarrels, the yelling, all the holes that his father had made in the wall. It didn't stop kids from recoiling in fear, didn't stop guests from never stopping by, or family from discontinuing ties. The fact of the matter was people didn't like werewolves; they were scared of them, and Remus didn't or couldn't blame them for it. He had no control over his actions; his parents had to build an iron shed to put him in at nights of the full moon so that he wouldn't hurt anyone.

But their concerns didn't stop problems from appearing. At age six, Remus showed signs of magic. It wasn't a surprise at all, but where was he to go to school? Hogwarts was by far the closest and probably one of the best, but would they risk the entire student body for him to attend?

Then luck hit them with full force in the appointment of the old transfiguration teacher to headmaster: Albus Dumbledore. He was known as one of the greatest wizards of all time, but somehow had the modesty to go and teach youngsters the art of magic. The Lupins wrote to him and gave him their situation in plain and simple English. He had agreed to meet Remus and his parents to discuss the matter.

Remus would be the last person you would suspect to be a werewolf. He was mostly quiet and kept to himself, never did anything ostentatious or dangerous, but was very well behaved. Dumbledore saw this, and thought it most unjust that he shouldn't be aloud to learn because of what he was.

In July of 1970 Remus got his acceptance letter from Hogwarts. His parents were very pleased, as was he. But something else haunted his mind, something he thought about all of the time. Would he have any friends?

It was on the Hogwarts express that he met his first great pals. He could remember it like yesterday, and now more than ever he wished he were with them, away from his angry parents who's yells were shaking the attic floor.

He was in a train compartment all to himself, reading a book about Hogwarts. The train had been moving along for just under ten minutes when two boys opened his compartment door, ran inside, then slammed it very suddenly. They appeared not to notice Remus sitting by the window.

"Do you think they saw us?" one of them asked the other, whispering.

"I don't know. Peek your head over the window and see if they're coming," the other one said.

"Me? Why can't you do it? I don't want them seeing me."

"Well I don't want them seeing me either!"

"Ok, on the count of three we both look up, deal?" he asked.

"Ok, deal," he answered.

"One...two...you do it, I can't look up," the taller one said. He was also the thinnest one, with very untidy black hair.

"Let's just not look and assume that they didn't follow us," the other one said. He also had black hair and was almost as tall as the other boy, but not as scrawny. 

"Sounds good. Did you see the looks on their faces?!" the thin one asked.

"Priceless! I don't know why they got so mad, I mean it was just two dungbombs, it's not like we threw in the whole bag."

"No kidding. Maybe it was the fact that we trapped them in the compartment with the bombs that really got them ticked," he and his friend laughed, Remus still hadn't said a word. They struck him as the type that threw spit balls across rooms, and yelled loudly through hallways. 

"Let's sit down, shall we?" the shorter one said.

"Ok, but I get....hello," Remus could now tell that this boy had round glasses which enhanced his bright blue eyes. He smiled when he saw Remus, a true genuine smile. Then the other boy turned. His eyes were a warm brown, which for some reason made Remus think he was a very trustworthy person. He also smiled at Remus.

"I'm sorry I didn't see you sooner. We were hiding," the one with glasses said.

"Yeah, I noticed. You can sit down, you know. I'm not saving these seats," Remus said, crossing his fingers.

"Great," the other boy said.

"I'm James Potter, by the way, and this here is my best friend, Sirius Black," said the boy with the glasses.

"Remus Lupin," he replied, shaking both of their hands. "So who did you dungbomb?"

James and Sirius both smiled evilly. "Slytherins," they said together.

"Slytherins? You have something against them?" Remus asked.

"Other than the fact that they're in Slytherin? No. I don't think there is another reason, or should be another reason," Sirius said.

"People in Slytherin are mean, horrible people," James said.

"How do you know?" Remus asked.

"Our parents said so," James said.

"What houses were they in?"

"My mom was in Ravenclaw, Dad was in Gryffindor," Sirius said.

"Really?" Remus asked, "My mom was in Gryffindor, dad was in Ravenclaw."

"Neat," Sirius said smiling.

"James, how about your parents?" Remus asked.

"Oh, all of my family has been in Gryffindor. Not a one has been in a different house, and neither will I." 

"But what if you do go into another house?" Remus asked. James and Sirius stared at him, not believing what he had just said.

"I will go into Gryffindor. There's not another option," James said, not smiling or joking but being purely candid. 

"Oh," Remus said, "alright. So how long have you been friends?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Life," Sirius said. "We live right across the street from each other."

"That's cool," Remus smiled. He was making his first friends, it was like a dream. So what other things have you done to people?"

James and Sirius grinned.

The train ride to Hogwarts, Remus thought, what a fun time. He met his best friends before he even got to school. As he looked back it seemed silly that he ever feared that he wouldn't make any friends. 

He could still hear his parents yelling three floors below him, and wanted more than anything to be back in that train right now.

Then an owl came to the window. Remus got up and walked over to let it in. He recognized it as B'ellana, Sirius' Eagle owl. He took the letter attached to its leg, opened it and read:  
  


Moony!

How's it going? Over here it's pretty cool, we're actually going to have a little bit of fun tomorrow night and wanted to know if you had plans. We are sending the following to the Quidditch team and many other Gryffindors, some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. If you want to invite anyone, feel free!  
  


TO all who seek to find a way to leave their world behind: Jen and Mitch Black have gone to Greece on Holiday for a week. Translation: The house is ours! James and Sirius are throwing a huge party for those who want to have a good time and won't blow up the house, because that's our job. Time: 8p.m. till when ever we kick you out. Where: Sirius' castle, 31 Lions Way, Godric's Hollow, New Devonshire. We are connected to the Floo Network, if you don't have Floo powder, then I suggest the Knight Bus. Raise your wand hand in the air and they will come to you.

Hope to see all of you there,

James and Sirius  
  


Remus's heart skipped. He was definitely going. This is what he wanted; to get away from his mother and father for one night. Remus ran to the corner of the attic and pulled out some parchment and ink and wrote back:

Padfoot and Prongs! Yeah I'm going. I was so glad to get a letter from you two. My parents are fighting like cats and dogs over here, I will be there at eight sharp! 

See you soon, Moony  
  


He attached the letter to B'ellana's leg and set her out the window. Then he ran down the stairs to confront his fighting parents. He walked into the living room to find them red faced with veins pulsating. 

"Mom, Dad," Remus said. The looked at him and smiled. "I'm going to Godric's Hollow tomorrow night. James and Sirius are having a party and they want me to come so I am going. Just thought you ought to know." Then he ran up to his room.  
  


The next night Remus was set and ready to go. He had pulled out his finest robes but didn't know that he would need them. He also wrote to Liz that morning and told her that he was going. She wrote back and said that she was also going to be there and looked forward to seeing him.

Remus had run out of floo powder. His parent's forgot it when they went to Diagon Alley but because they could Apparate it was no big deal to them. So he gathered some coins and went outside to catch the Knight bus instead. He raised his left hand in the air, he was left handed, and the large triple-decker purple bus appeared out of thin air. The door swung open and he stepped inside, paid the small fee and told the conductor where he wanted to go. In a flash they were on their way.

"Is there a party tonight?" the driver asked him. "Cause we've been gettin' a lot of young people like yourself tonight. We have to go and pick up another one, as a matter of fact."

"Yeah, there's a party," Remus answered him. Then the bus suddenly came to a halt. Remus threw his arms forward to brace himself on the seat in front of him. The door swung open again and another passenger got on.

"31 Lions Way, Godric's Hollow," she said. Remus recognized her voice and stood up to say hello.

"Lily!" he said. She smiled and came and sat next to him.

"Hello Remus. So they convinced you to go to this shindig of theirs, did they?"

"I didn't need much convincing. I wanted to get out of the house for a bit. It'll be fun though, it will. Trust me."

She looked a little concerned. "Sirius' parents don't know about it, do they? James and Sirius probably disobeyed a direct order of theirs. I don't even know why I'm going."

"Lily just relax, it'll be fun."

"Maybe. So how's your summer been?" she asked.

"Fine," Remus lied, "Yours?"

"Fine."

"Yeah, Sirius told me about that dinner of yours," Remus smiled at her. She smirked and blushed a little.

"That was a very fun evening. Wrong, but fun."

"31 Lions Way!" the conductor shouted out. Lily and Remus got off the bus and walked onto the street. At first they even wondered if anyone was home because it was completely silent and the windows looked black. Remus shrugged his shoulders and walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. In less than five seconds Sirius answered. The loud music almost blasted them across the street as Sirius opened the door.

"Remus and Lily! We were wondering where you were!" Sirius yelled over the music. "Come in, come in!"

The two stepped inside, Lily covered her ears. There had to be at least forty people in just the living room area alone, some of which she had never seen in her life.

"Who all showed up?" Remus yelled to Sirius. Sirius put up a finger signaling him to hold that thought. He went to his stereo, or I should say the wizarding stereo which is very different from muggle sound systems, and turned down the volume a little so that he didn't have to yell so loud.

"All three Quidditch teams, all of the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws in our year, most of the sixth years, a few fifth years, and some people on vacation from Beauxbatons. Liz is talking to Jade over in that corner, last time I checked."

"All Quidditch teams, eh? That means Annika is here, doesn't it?" Remus asked him. Sirius rolled his eyes and then nodded.

"Unfortunately."

"Whatever happened with the two of you? You never explained that to us?" Remus asked. Lily was making her way over to Liz and Jade.

"Oh it just wasn't working. She hated James with a passion because he beat her at Quidditch and shoved her face in it. I laughed and said it was funny and she got a little miffed, so I called it off. I can't have a girlfriend that doesn't like James, it just won't work. Any way, she's old news. You should see some of the girls from Beauxbatons, wow! They make them good there!"

"They make them good at Hogwarts," Remus said as he saw Liz smile and wave to him.

"Yeah, yeah, you people and your steady girlfriends drive me crazy. Go say hello to her, why don't you. I think I have spotted someone in need of a little Sirius charm," he said smiling as he left Remus for a tall thin girl obviously from Beauxbatons.

Remus walked over to Liz, which proved to be quite a challenge. People were dancing wildly in the center of the room, so he had to take an indirect path to the other corner.

"Remus!" she said as she hugged and kissed him. "I am so glad you came!"

"Me too. You look fantastic," he said to her. She was dressed casually but was very pretty never the less.

"Thanks," she said blushing.

"You want to dance?" he asked.

"Absolutely!" she yelled, and he took her hand and escorted her to the middle of the dance floor slash living room.

"Is it just me or is it way too loud in here?" Lily asked Jade, who had her arms crossed as she watched Sirius flirt with the french girl. "Jade!"

"What!" she asked.

"Just try to ignore him and have a good time. He'll come to you soon enough, just let him get this out of his system. She probably can't even speak English." 

Jade tried to smile, but couldn't.

Then a very hansom young man with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes came up to the two of them and smiled.

"Bon jur," he said in French, smiling. Both girls smiled back. "I 'am Louis, a sevanth year from Beauxbatons. 'Oo are you?"

He was quite charming. Jade was lost for words, seeming to have forgotten all about Sirius, she just stared at his face and his broad and muscular shoulders. Lily decided to break the ice.

"I'm Lily, an engaged seventh year from Hogwarts, and this is my best friend Jade a single seventh year from Hogwarts. She's very pleased to meet you."

Louis smiled at Jade. He seemed to understand 'engaged' and 'single.'

"Jade," he said, "Would you like to daunce with me?" he asked. Jade nodded and put her hands in his as he led her away.

"So now I am at a party, and completely alone. This is just great," Lily mumbled to herself. There were so many people she knew, she could at least talk to some people. She decided to make her way across the dance floor to talk to some Ravenclaw girls that she saw. But she met someone else as she started walking.

" 'Allo," said a young Frenchman. "I am Jean Luc, and I want too ahsk you a question."

Lily smiled politely but continued on without saying anything.

"Did it 'urt when you fell from 'eaven?" he asked smiling more widely.

"Excuse me?" Lily said shocked.

"I ahsked if it 'urt when you fell from 'eaven. You look like an angel to me."

"Do I?" she asked sarcastically. She knew what he was doing, and didn't like it.

"You know that you 'ave stolen my 'art. I want to dance with you, show you true romance."

"Um, I'm not really interested," she said, waving her left hand to him, hoping that he would catch the ring, but he didn't.

"Come on, just one daunce with me," he said. Lily was getting a bit tired of it, and wish he would go away.

"I don't want to dance with you. I have a boyfriend you know. Actually he's my fiancé as of just a few weeks ago." 

"Just one dance, please. I 'ave only a few months left to live." Lily walked faster hoping that someone would come to her rescue. And then she saw him. James was talking to David, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain. David saw Lily and pointed her out to James. 

He turned and smiled at her, "Lily!" he said excited.

She didn't say a word, just ran up to him, put her hands on his face and kissed him, the most romantic and deepest kiss she had ever given him, as if she hadn't seen him in many years.

James put his arms around her waist, mostly to stabilize himself from falling over due to the sudden weakness in his knees. When she pulled away she just said, "Hi," and put her fingers to his lips.

"Hi," he said weakly. Jean Luc who had seen Lily kiss James, gave him an evil stare and turned and followed another girl. 

"That guy was hitting on me!" she said to him, "I tried telling him to stay away, but apparently he needed a visual. Damn Frenchman," she said. "So, how are you?"

But James was still having some trouble adjusting after she kissed him. He was still holding on to her so he didn't fall, and words were failing him. "Um..." he said, "Fine."

"So do Sirius' parents know about this little pow wow of yours?" she asked him.

"Know about this party? No, they don't. And if they ever ask, there never was a party."

"James that is so dishonest!" she yelled, though it didn't sound like she yelled, after all, it was very loud inside.

James smiled, "Oh come now Lily, live a little. You want to talk about being dishonest, I think I recall a certain someone deceiving an entire family just a little while ago, even your own parents. I don't think you should lecture me on dishonesty."

"I didn't throw a party which is host to half the school and foreigners, James. Gosh it's loud in here, is there any place quiet in this house?"

"Yeah, the kitchen. I'll take you. I'll be back, David," he said to the Ravenclaw. He put his arm around her shoulders and steered her through the mass crowd of people to the kitchen, which was thankfully rather silent.

"Oh it's so good to hear myself think again!" she said once they were inside. "So what are you talking to David about?"

"McClintick graduated, so Slytherin's getting a new captain. We were making educated guesses at who it could be. New leadership changes the entire game plan, Slytherin knows that and will pick a good captain. It could change everything."

"Sounds fascinating," she said sarcastically.

"Oh it is if you enjoy Quidditch. I'll be back here in a minute, I just want finish the conversation." He kissed her and left, leaving Lily a bit surprised. She looked around the kitchen, now quite alone, and sat on the counter.

"Remus!" Liz giggled as she and Remus burst into the kitchen in a close embrace. He seemed to be kissing the back of her neck, or smelling her hair, Lily couldn't quite tell.

"Lily, what are you doing in here?" Liz asked as she suddenly saw Lily sitting on the counter and got quite embarrassed. Remus let go of her.

"James put me here. I wanted to be someplace quiet. He said he'd come back when he was finished talking Quidditch to David. Whatever," she said.

"And you're upset about that, aren't you?" Liz asked, still blushing.

"Well shouldn't I be? This is the first time I have seen him all summer, and he drops me off in the kitchen while he talks to some captain of some team!"

"Have you told him this?" Remus asked.

"Do I need to tell him something that obvious? We should be doing what you two are doing. Maybe I'll just go home."

"Lily, he's just stupid guy," Liz said.

"Hey!" Remus said.

"Sorry, but your sex does seem to be a bit on the dense side. But very lovable all the same. Just go out there and pull him away from that captain guy."

"Maybe," she said thoughtfully. Lily got off the top of the counter and went back out into the mess that was the Black's living room. The music was still so loud. Lily stood on her toes to try and see the top of his head but didn't.

Sirius had much better luck in finding him though. He was in the far corner talking serious Quidditch with David.

"James, I'm going to go take a shower if anyone asks for me," he said.

"What?" James yelled over the noise.

"I said I'm going to go take a shower!"

"Turn off the power? Why?"

"No!" Sirius yelled, "I am going to take a shower!"

"What?" James asked. Sirius just rolled his eyes and pointed upstairs. James nodded his head. Sirius made his way upstairs to his room and kept wondering about James. If he couldn't hear him telling James that he was taking a shower, then how was he talking clearly to David? It was a mystery. Sirius walked into his room and into his bathroom.

"Good God, Sirius, you're a pig," he said to himself as he opened his bathroom door and turned on the light. Dirty clothes were spread every where, the tub was gross looking, toothpaste was stuck all over the sink, and the mirrors had spit drops on them. "Gross. Ok, think. You stink, and you want to impress Renee, so what do you do? Use James' shower." He walked down the hall and went into James' bathroom. "James you are such a fruitcake. You could eat off the floor in here." There wasn't a spot to be seen. Sirius shut the door, stripped down, turned on the radio, turned on the hot water and stepped inside the shower, using the soap as a microphone as he sang along with Serena the Sorcerer.

Back downstairs things were very different. "James!" Lily yelled.

"What?" he asked.

"A word!" she said, beckoning him with her finger. He got up and walked slowly to her, but then she pulled him by his ear into the kitchen.

"OW!" he said when she released him. "What did you do that for?"

"Why are you ignoring me?"

James didn't know what she was talking about. "I'm not ignoring you. I was just talking to David about-"

"Yeah, yeah, Quidditch I know. I haven't seen you all summer and when I finally do you drop me off in the kitchen till your ready for me."

"I did not," he said, folding his arms in disgust.

"Oh really? Then what do you call it?" she asked. James stared at her and thought about this.

"I wasn't ignoring you."

"You were too!"

"Was not!"

"Yes you were, James, you ignored me delibratly to talk about Quiddtich." James closed his eyes and sighed.

"I didn't mean to ignore you. I'm sorry if that was your impression. Are we good now?" he asked. Lily looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, we're good now."

"Ok, then I'm going back out there to talk to David.."

"James! What about me?" she asked perturbed. James dropped his shoulders.

"Lily," he wined, "it's Quidditch, just let me tell him one last thing."

"It's so important that you'll just leave me here? Alone, in the kitchen? Fending off good looking boys that want to dance with me? If you leave me I just might have to grant them their wish." James walked over to her and took her hand and led her back out into the mess. He walked to David and yelled, "I'll write you a letter about it!" David nodded his head. Lily smiled.

"Dance with me," she said to him.

"Lily, I don't dance," James told her.

"It's not that difficult. Actually," she said, looking around, "people here aren't dancing, they're swaying. You can do that."

"Lily!" it was Jade, "I hate the french!" she yelled.

"What did he do to you?" Lily asked.

"He put his hands on my butt, and tried to kiss me!"

"What did you do?" Lily asked shocked.

"I slapped him. Why do the french have to be such pigs?"

Lily shrugged. She put her arms around James shoulders.

"James! Where's the bathroom?" She yelled.

"Well, there's one down here, but last time I looked there was a huge line. You can use my bathroom upstairs. My room is the last door on the left, all the way down the end of the hall."

"Got it. Thanks." She left the two of them to "dance" and headed upstairs. The music could still be heard, but it wasn't that bad. No one was up here, which seemed strange, perhaps they put some kind of spell on the staircase. She opened James' door when she got to it, and walked to a next door which she assumed was his bathroom.

She opened the door quickly to see something she never would have expected. 

Sirius was dancing naked on the tile floor, singing into the soap bar and watching himself in the mirror. Jade just stood there for a while, not knowing what she should do. He was singing quite loudly and probably wouldn't hear her if she shut the door and walked out. But what he was doing was just to funny for words. He was spinning around the floor, wearing nothing and not even noticing that she was standing there. Jade snorted with laughter and tried to muffle it but he saw her.

"Jade!" he screamed, grabbing a towel and covering himself.

"I am so sorry," she said, trying not to laugh even more, "I didn't know you where in here, I'll just go," and she slammed the door, and ran down stairs, laughing all the way. She saw Lily and Liz, both in the arms of their boyfriends, and she ran to them.

"Lily, I have to tell you something!" she said grinning, and before Lily could say anything, Jade grabbed her shirt and yanked her away. Then she got Liz and yanked her too, taking both of them into the kitchen.

"What's up with you?" Liz asked frowning.

"I have to tell you something!" she said excited.

"What?" The both asked.

"I just saw Sirius naked!" she squealed. Liz and Lily were not expecting this, and their jaws dropped ten feet. They both tried to say something in return, but didn't know what to say.

"He was taking a shower in James' bathroom, and he was dancing in front of the mirror, and singing! Oh my, it was hilarious!"

"Did he see you?" Lily asked.

"Yes, he was very embarrassed I think, though he shouldn't be. He has a great body!" Jade blushed furiously, and sat up on the counter. Both Liz and Lily started laughing as they soon had their own mental picture of what Jade had described playing in their heads.  
  


"What do you think they're doing in there?" Remus asked James, as he pointed to the kitchen door.

"I have no idea. Probably talking about us, or something," he replied. Then Sirius came down the stairs and ran to them. He looked on edge.

"Are you alright?" James asked. Sirius didn't answer him.

"Where's Jade?" he asked.

"She just drug Lily and Liz into the kitchen to talk about something. Why?" But Sirius didn't answer him. He turned and headed for the door, dreading what he was about to see. When he entered the kitchen he found all three of them laughing their heads off, but as soon as they saw him they all became suddenly interested in their fingernails. Sirius walked to the fridge and opened the door. As the door creaked open he could have swore he heard a chuckle. He looked back at the three quickly. They were all biting their lips, and examining their cuticles. Sirius reached inside and grabbed a bottled water, keeping his eyes on them the entire time. Jade was sitting on the counter, Lily and Liz were standing next to her. The corners of their mouths were quickly deceiving them, as they raised slowly upward. Sirius watched them, not smiling himself, as he backed out of the kitchen. Once the door closed behind him, he heard all three of them burst with laughter, even over the loud music.

Sirius rolled his eyes in disgust and went to his three friends, Peter had finally managed to find the other two.

"Sirius, are you ok? You look like someone told you that you have weeks to live," James said smiling. 

"They're all laughing at me," Sirius said strait-faced. The other three waited for him to finish the statement, but he never did.

"They're not all laughing at you," James said, "why would they be doing that?"

Sirius looked at his feet.

"Sirius, why do you think they're laughing at you?" James asked again. Remus and Peter watched him closely.

"Because," Sirius started, getting closer to James' ear, "Because Jade saw me...um...in the nude." James face read shock, but his eyes read amusement. Remus and Peter looked at Sirius as if waiting for him to tell them, but he didn't.

"What is it?" Peter asked.

"Jade saw Sirius in the raw, and found it to be funny!" James told them. Remus and Peter both laughed, as did James. Sirius wasn't.

"Oh yeah, think it's funny do you? It wouldn't be if it was one of you they saw. At least I have a body. You're too thin, you have no muscle, and you're fat!" he said to the three of them. But it didn't hinder their humor.

"Sirius, lighten up," James said. "It couldn't have been that bad. Besides, if you had seen her in the same way, you would be telling us."

"But not laughing!"

"Just go in and talk to her," Remus suggested.

"And say what? 'Hey baby, what do you think?' I can't say that."

"I don't know, you're the one they're in hysterics about," Remus replied.

"Come on, Sirius, we'll all go with you," James said, pushing Sirius back to the kitchen against his will.

"I want to go alone!" Sirius said, trying to fight James, but Remus and Peter were also pushing him back. When the door swung open, they all saw the three girls, whose faces were red, tears in their eyes and Jade was dancing and singing. When they saw the four boys, they went back to their positions: Jade jumped back onto the counter and Liz and Lily stood by her.

"So," James said, breaking the awkward silence, "One of us has seen another in a whole new light." Everyone but Sirius laughed. 

"What is so funny about my body?" Sirius asked Jade.

"Sirius, you have a nice body, especially when you are dancing," she said, laughing again.

"Dancing?" Remus, James and Peter asked.

"Oh he didn't tell you?" Jade asked them. "He was dancing naked in front of the mirror, singing to the soap at the top of his lungs."

James, Remus and Peter all stared at Sirius and cracked. Sirius still didn't see the humor in all of this. James was laughing so hard he had to lean on Sirius shoulders to keep from falling. Then he smiled just a little.

"You know," Sirius said, smirking, "there is only one way to get even." He walked over to Jade, looked into her eyes, and put his hands on her thighs.

"And what's that?" she asked, putting her hands around his neck.

"I have to see you naked," he said, smiling.

"Ha!" she said, "As if. You'll never see that!"

"Oh come on, Jade. You know you want to, all the other kids are doing it."

"No way, Sirius. Do you know how much power I hold? I can tell people all about you. I own you now, boy," she said slyly, running her hands through his hair.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I can tell all of your future blonde bimbos about what's under that cocky exterior of yours, and I don't have to be truthful. Got me?" 

"Oh man," James said, "she's right, she's got you in a tough spot."

"You do anything I say now," she told him. 

"No," he said quietly, moving closer to her.

"Um, yes," she said in return, nodding her head and smiling.

"Jade, don't tell people," and then he kissed her lightly on the lips. Everyone else in the room, who knew that Jade liked him very much, stopped breathing.

Jade closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. She smiled at him, he smiled back. Liz and Lily crossed their fingers as they watched.

"You're not going to tell people really, are you?" he asked her.

"I'll think about it," she said lightly, as if floating on air.

"Good, you do that," and he let go of her and walked out of the door. Jade almost fainted, and would have landed flat on her face if James hadn't caught her on the way down.

"He kissed me," she said smiling, James still holding on to her. "Sirius Black kissed me. Me, not some idiot like usual. No, he kissed me."

"Can you stand up now, Jade?" James asked her.

"I don't think so. You want to know why? Cause he kissed me."

"Yeah, we all saw him do that. Here you go," James said, leaning her on the counter. Liz and Lily grabbed onto her so she didn't fall. Jade was looking upwards, all dreamy eyed, repeating, "he kissed me." James went for the door.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked him.

"To talk to Sirius about all of this," he said, raising his eyebrows to communicate to her.

"Oh," she said, suddenly understanding, "Ok." James pushed the door open and went up to Sirius who was now talking to a Beauxbatons girl.

"Hey," James said to him, Sirius turned around, "We need to talk."

"Bout what?"

"About what just happened. Come with me." James took Sirius by the collar and took him up stairs. 

"So what is it?" Sirius asked.

"You just kissed Jade," James said, as if what Sirius asked was a very stupid question, which it was.

"Your point being...."

"Sirius! You can't just kiss someone and not..I don't know, you just can't flirt with some girl from a different school after you kiss Jade!"

"Why not?"

"Sirius! Can you be any more superficial? Girls have emotions, you know."

"We're just friends James, it's no big deal," he said casually. James was now having a strong inner conflict. Should he tell Sirius and break Jade's promise, or should he not tell Sirius, let him hit on another girl and break her heart instead?

"Just refrain from kissing her, alright? Can you do that for me?" James asked. He knew Sirius would still talk to her, but maybe he wouldn't kiss her as Jade walked out of the kitchen.

Sirius pondered it for a while, "Oh alright, but just because you asked me, and I respect you."

"Fine." James walked back into the kitchen, and whispered into Lily's ear instructions to keep Jade out of Sirius' view, just in case. She understood and said she'd try her best.  
  


After many hours of late night partying, dancing, laughing, eating, and grinding the food into the carpet, James and Sirius insisted that everyone go home. Jade was still in a euphoric state, knowing that she had just lived her fantasy. Lily was glad that the party was over, she was never one that enjoyed loud music, and James kept talking about Quidditch to the other players on the three teams. Sirius didn't keep his promise, he took Renee, the girl from Beauxbatons in the back yard and made out like there was no tomorrow. But Remus had an excellent time with Liz and his friends, and really didn't want to go back home. Of all the people at the party, however, Peter seemed to have lost the most control, and let lose completely. After several butterbeers and a kiss from Fran, the girl from Hufflepuff, Peter danced solo very strangely in the middle of the living room, everyone else cheering him on.

Afterwards summer seemed to slow down. James and Sirius turned 17 within a week of each other at the end of July, and celebrated by dueling one another. This made Jen Black very angry, for many of their shots missed and shattered vases, windows, and set fire to the furniture, but James and Sirius thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen.

Lily, Liz and Jade spent much of their time together talking about Sirius, and how he had kissed her. It made Jade so happy, and very nervous whenever she was around him from then on. Liz and Lily shared their own romantic stories with Jade, and hoped that she would be so lucky.

Peter spent the rest of the summer with his mother, who was very domineering. She wouldn't let him go to see his friends, or talk to Fran, which he deeply resented. Instead he wrote letters without her knowledge to everyone he knew. They all sympathized with him and told him summer was near the end, and more magical adventures were waiting to begin.

Towards the end of July, Headmaster Dumbledore sent out two letters, one to James, the other to Lily. Lily was beside herself with joy when she got her letter. She read it many times to her mother and father, and plastered it on the refrigerator.  
  


"Dear Miss. Lily Evans,

I am writing to inform you that the teachers and staff of Hogwarts have chosen you to be Head Girl. I am sure that you are aware of the responsibilities of this position, and the prestige that it encumbers. Your excellent academic achievements, great magical capabilities, beyond which I have ever seen may I add, and near perfect record make you the best candidate for the job. All will be looking to you for help and advice, and will see you as a role model. Congratulations Lily, on your wonderful achievements.  
  


Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore  
  


Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"  
  


And to James' shock, he got a very similar letter.   
  


"Dear Mr. James Potter,

I know you are not expecting this letter, as you hold a record number of detentions, I believe it is around 129, but what are numbers? I am writing to inform you of your appointment as Head Boy. The staff and teachers of this school see you as a role model to the entire student body. People listen to you, and respect you. Your academic abilities have surely surpassed excellence. Your talent on the Quidditch field deserves no explanation. But I wanted you as Head Boy because I have never encountered a student as noble and pure of heart as you, James. Congratulations again, my friend.  
  


Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore  
  


Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"  
  


Enclosed in each envelope was a round shiny silver badge, with "HG" and "HB" printed in big letters. James was beyond shock when he got his, so much so that he thought it was Sirius' idea of a joke, and threw the badge out the window.

Lily called James the moment she got her letter and expressed her happiness to him. She too was shocked, however, at James' appointment. "Hey, at least we get to boss people around as a couple," he joked. 

With a few weeks left of summer, they all went to Diagon Alley and met up for lunch. James and Sirius had to be dragged away from the new Nimbus 150, which was displayed in Quality Quidditch Supplies, by Remus and Peter. They all got new Robes, their books, and other parafanella, then said goodbye till September first.


	14. THE SEVENTH YEAR: From the Platform

*** The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn' to be sold, reproduced or taken as true. The main characters and most locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. No copyright infringement is intended.***  
  


THE SEVENTH YEAR:

Part One: From the Platform

"Some things will never be forgotten."  
  


"Sirius, have you seen my broom!?!"

"No! Have you seen my wand? I don't know where I put it!"

"Have you tried your closet? I'll bet money it's in there."

"There's nothing in my closet cause I threw it all out looking for my wand!"

"Damn it, my cloak's not in my trunk, have you seen it?"

"No. What time is it?"

"Um...Oh no, it's ten!"

"I told you we should have packed last night, but no, you just wouldn't listen."

"Sirius, shut up!"

"Don't tell me to shut up! You're the one who forgot to set the alarm, even though you told me you would set it!"

"Hey, you're the one who told me to set it."

"Why are we yelling across the house?"

"I don't know!"

"I'm coming down the hall, James, just stay there."

"We're going to miss the train, I just know it."

"We're not going to miss the train, James, I just know we won't. Now, let's switch roles, you look for my wand, I'll look for the cloak," Sirius said to James as he entered his room.

"And my broom. Where did you last see your wand?" James asked.

"I don't know, if I knew that I would probably have it."

"Alright, I'll go look for it."

"Wait," Sirius said, holding James back, "How do I look?" Sirius smiled.

James rolled his eyes, "I can't believe you're asking me this when we have no time."

"And your answer?"

"You look fine, now go find my cloak and my broom while I look for your wand, you egocentric fiend."

"Ok, Head Boy!" he said laughing. Sirius did nothing but make fun of James and his making of Head Boy ever since he got the letter. 

James proceeded to rummage through all of Sirius stuff which was spread randomly all over his very messy room.

"Sirius, how do you sleep in this room?" he yelled. James picked up a pile of clothes and threw it in a box, then another handful, and another, till he could see the floor.

"James, I found your cloak!" Sirius yelled from down the hall.

"Where was it?"

"On a shelf, under your broom," he said, James could hear him sniggering.

James moved a dirty sweater from Sirius dresser and found his wand laying on top of it. "I found your wand! It was on your messy dresser under a dirty sweater!" he yelled. Sirius ran into the room smiling.

"Good, we can relax now. Is that all we were missing? I've got the map in my trunk, my robes, cauldron, spell books, quills, ink, parchment, and everything else I need. You?"

"Yes, yes, yes," he said as he ticked off items in his mind. "And you have the map?"

"I have the map. Do you have your goodie, goodie badge?" he asked smiling.

"Do you think they'll make me wear it? Won't this put a crimp in my style?"

"Don't you know it. Ah well, your parents would be very proud. If they were still alive, they would die of shock that you made it. It'll be good for you not to get into so much trouble though, won't it?" Sirius asked.

"I suppose, but not as much fun. Can they take it away and give it to someone else?"

"Who would they give it to? Snape?" he said sarcastically.

"Good point. Let's put our stuff in the car, shall we?" James and Sirius took their trunks down the stairs and loaded them into the car waiting in the road. Jen and Mitch Black sat in the front seat waiting for the two boys to finally get their act together. Once Sirius and James got in the back seat, Mitch said, "And you're sure this time?"

"Yes, Dad, we've got everything, just go." Mitch started the engine and drove down the street, passing many houses, some of them wizard others muggle. The muggles didn't know that half of Godric's Hollow was home to wizards, the largest group in all of Great Britain.

"Oh bloody hell!" Sirius said.

"What did you forget this time?" Mitch said exasperated as he put his foot on the break.

"Just kidding, nothing dad," Mitch didn't laugh, though Sirius did. "I'm going to get a motorcycle one day," he said randomly.

"Well that was out of the blue," James said, "Why do you want a motorcycle?"

"They're so cool. You just wait, I'm going to get one. I saw this guy driving one after I left that restaurant in Norfolk. I just laid eyes on it and said to myself, 'Sirius, you'd look good on one of those.'"

"Do you think of anything else besides how you look?" James asked smiling.

"Yes, I think of women, and motorcycles, and making fun of you and your Head Boy badge, what it would be like to see Snape fall off a 100 story building, the best ways to make money..."

"Ok, I get the point," James said holding up his hand. "Do you realize that this is our last first day of school?"

"Scary isn't it?" Sirius said. "We'll be adults having to fend for ourselves, Apparating all over the country just because we can. Working in boring offices where they talk about stupid laws that no one needs or wants, but their making them just because there is nothing else to do."

"Way to be an optimist," James said smirking and looking out the window. Buildings whipped past the window, cars passed them by as the drove on to the Tiverton Train Station, which was just a few miles away.

"Oh, what's this?" Mitch said as he looked at the traffic accident on the freeway. Two cars were overturned, three were in fender-benders and there was no way to get around it. "We're going to be late," Mitch said.

"Dad," Sirius panicked, "We can't be late, it's the Seventh year! James has to lead all the cheerleaders through the great hall because he's Head Boy," he laughed.

"Ha, ha," James said, "very funny. How are we going to get there, now?"

"Can't we just magic our way through all of this?" Sirius asked.

"We could," Mitch said thoughtfully, "But there are so many muggles around. Let's just wait for it."

It took half an hour for the mess to clear up. James and Sirius were stressing in the back seat, constantly looking at their watches, sighing as the time ticked by. It was 10:55 by the time they came to the parking lot of the station. James and Sirius ran with their trunks on carts, owls hooting madly, to platform Nine and Three Quarters. There were at least ten different platforms, the most used and most well known was King's Cross station in London. But only one third of the student's came from London, the rest from all over Great Britain. All platforms led to the same destination, which was some magic place that none of them knew, but met every year.

James ran through the platform first, followed by Sirius, and his parents. They were all out of breath, and stopped the flow of traffic of eager students as they stopped buckled over in the middle of the platform.

"We.....made....it," Sirius said in between breaths. 

"All Aboard!" The conductor yelled in just a few minutes time.

"You two better get going," Jen said to them, though they were still catching their breath.

"And I thought I was in excellent shape," Sirius sighed, James nodded in agreement. Jen went up to Sirius and kissed his cheeks, though he resisted, then she kissed James and they waved goodbye. James and Sirius had to run to throw their heavy trunks into the caboose of the train, then had to grab the conductors hand so he could heave them on board.

"Ah," Sirius said, once safely on the train, "I wonder where everyone else is."

"You can look on the left, I'll take the right," James suggested. They walked up the train for several moments not seeing anyone they knew, until someone unpleasant crossed their path.

"Why it's Black and Potter," Snape said in his cold sneering voice, "Lost?"

"Look, ugly, just step aside," James said casually. He really wasn't in the mood for a long drawn out battle of words. But Snape just stood where he was.

"What did you do to win your new acquisition, Potter?" Snape asked, the corner of his lip beginning to curl. "Did you put Dumbledore under some spell so that you could steal the right to be 'head' of the school?"

"I don't think like you do Snape, so no I didn't put him under a spell. Just move aside, will you!" James said, but Snape still didn't move.

"What is your problem?" Sirius asked, losing his temper. Snape smiled.

"Clearly, the two of you."

"Well," James said unaffected, "just move to the left, or the right, cause I don't care, and we will gladly get out of your way!"

"You never answered my question," Snape said.

"You really want to know? Fine, I'll tell you. Because I am a hell of a lot smarter than you, I have leadership skills, maybe not the best record, but Dumbledore seems to think that saving your ugly ass counted for something. There, you happy?"

"Favoritism: the only way you are still enrolled," Snape sneered.

"If you don't move now, Severus, I will set your hair on fire. You know I can," James closed his eyes in frustration as he said this.

"Snape," Sirius started, "Just how did you get into this school anyway? Why aren't you going to Drumstrang with all of your other Dark Arts worshipers. You know, I always found you and your 'friends' to be quite cowardly, roaming around under guise of a black cloak. You run around spouting dark magic and doing it in secret. You're just a bunch of cowards!" 

Snape didn't like being called a coward, not one little bit. He moved forward, advancing on Sirius. James and Sirius didn't back down, but also advanced. They were almost touching, they could hear each other breathing.

"At least I am not afraid to go somewhere alone. You both think you're so tough yet neither of you go any place by yourselves. The last time I took you on, Potter, I beat you."

"Ha!" James said silently, "You could have been ripped apart. You want to take me? Fine, let's do it here and now. Sirius will just chuck your body off the train, he won't help me. Do you want to use wands, or fists? Either way, you'll lose."

Snape smiled, "Wands," he said.

James drew his wand from his jacket pocket, and backed up ten paces. Snape did the same. People in the compartments came out, and stood in the door ways, oohing and ahing at what they were about to see.

"Just don't kill each other. That goes for both of you," Sirius said. James smirked, bowed appropriately, then raised his wand and shouted "Forcetrium!" A large ball, gold in color, erupted from James' wand and flew at Snape, hitting him fast in the stomach. Snape flew back at least ten feet and landed with a thud on the floor. People applauded.

Snape rose, and pointed his wand at James, yelling "Fracturius!" a stream of what looked an awful lot like spaghetti noodles, shot out of Snape's wand. But James, recognizing the spell and being faster than Snape, pointed his wand right back mumbling, "Refracto." The two spells collided in mid air, making a large explosion in the middle of the train car. Then the spell traveled back to Snape, and hit him in the nose. James lowered his wand to look at Snape.

"That was very fast, James," Sirius whispered to himself.

Snape's nose was getting bigger and more disfigured and hooked each second. Sirius, James and the audience laughed at the large anomaly that was taking shape on the center of Snape's ugly face. 

Snape had to cross his eyes to look at his new nose, and when he saw it, he ran down the train, leaving James as the victor. James smiled widely, Sirius lifted James' right arm high in the air as the student's cheered for him.

"I give you, James Potter, your new Head Boy!" Sirius shouted. The students, who all seemed to be 5th year and below, cheered loudly and enthusiastically. "Do you want to touch him?" Sirius asked playfully, "Do you want to touch him?"

"There you are!" Remus said as he came around the corner and saw the two standing there. "I've been looking for the both of you."

"We've been looking for you," Sirius said.

"Hey, did you guys see Snape? His nose is huge!"

James smiled and laughed, "Yeah I saw him, I did that."

"You lucky fool. We're not even at school yet and you have already managed to get into trouble. That is very admirable."

"Thanks. So where is everyone?" James asked.

"Near the very front of the train. For a while we thought you weren't going to make it." Remus led them down past many compartments, some of which the occupants were first years. They looked so small.

"I was never that short," Sirius said, as they passed some eleven year olds.

"No, you were shorter," James said, "They look tall for their age."

"Here we are," Remus said, pointing with his hand to a compartment with Peter looking outside the window. He looked up at them and smiled.

"Where's Lily?" James asked.

"They're in the next compartment over, I think. They were traveling up and down the train, though, as if campaigning for Lily's re-election."

"I see," James said, as he crashed opposite Peter and looked out the window. "This is the very last time. Do you realize that? Our last first day. Gosh this feels weird."

"So what are you going to do first as Head Boy?" Remus asked.

"You guys make it sound like I've been crowned King of England. Nothing really important happens. They take your picture, plaster it on a plaque and put it up in the trophy room. Other than that, nothing."

"There you are," Lily said as she looked in the compartment and saw James. She smiled, went in and sat next to him. 

"Hi," he said, smiling. "Where have you been?"

"Just going around, saying hello. I always do that on the way to school.." James noticed that her Head Girl badge was pinned on her sweater, shining brightly. James smiled.

"Where's yours?" she asked, noticing that he was looking at hers.

"I think it's in the trunk. I don't know. Are they going to make me wear it, because I don't know that I really want to," James said. Lily frowned at him.

"Why not?" she asked.

"I don't know, it just doesn't seem like me. Lily you even admitted that you were shocked over this."

"He doesn't want to be called a goodie, goodie," Sirius said as he sat down next to Lily.

"You're not a 'goodie goodie,' James. Do I look like a one?" she asked sincerely.

James hesitated, "Do you really want me to answer that?"

"You should be proud, it's a great accomplishment, James. You deserve it," she said.

"But then I know people are looking up to me, and I'd feel bad about sneaking out at night, and talking back. It's too much pressure on me," James said. Lily laughed at him, then Jade came in the compartment. She blushed as she saw Sirius, and looked away from him quickly.

"James, did you just duel Snape?" Jade asked him.

Lily turned and looked at James shocked. James felt the temperature rise in the room, Lily didn't like the fact that James and Snape were always at each others throats. James had never mentioned to her, however, that Snape wanted to poison her with a love potion just before Christmas.

Everyone looked at James, but he didn't say anything.

"Sorry, what was the question?" he asked.

"Did you duel with Severus?" Lily asked, an angry tone in her voice.

James started to sweat as he smiled into her eyes. "Define, 'dueling.'"

Lily rolled her head, "Define dueling? How about this: taking out your wand, and spewing spells at another person, who is also taking out his wand and throwing spells at you. That's dueling. So, now that we got that out of the way, were you dueling with Severus?" James was silent for a while as he looked at his audience.

"Well..." he mumbled, "When you put it that way...yes. But he started it, Lily, didn't he Sirius?"

"Yes, he did. We asked him to move about a hundred times, but he just didn't move."

"So you fought him? Way to be mature," Lily said.

"You should see his nose," Jade said smirking, "they're still trying to fix it."

"What did you do to his nose?" Lily asked.

"Ok, he tried to put that spell on me, Lily, but I reversed it. I just gave him a taste of his own medicine. So if I hadn't reversed it, then I would have that schnauze for a nose. Would you like for me to have that?"

"You couldn't have just talked to him?" she asked.

"We tried that Lily," Sirius said, coming to his friends aid. "Don't worry about it, he'll be his usual ugly self in no time flat. His friends will fix him up good as new. I still don't get how anyone can be as good as new. Has anyone else figured that one out, because I was thinking about it all summer and it just get's me.."

"Sirius, would you shut up?" James said.

"Any thing off the trolley?" the old lady asked as she wheeled her cart in front of their compartment.

"Do you want anything?" James asked Lily, as he put his arm on her shoulders, and kissed her gently on the cheek..

"Don't even try to kiss up to me, because it won't work," she said. But he continued on. He started to whisper into her ear, and put his arms around her waist. She started to smile. "James," she said giggling, "we're not alone." James looked up at all of them watching as they watched him. 

"We should be," he said, "Let's go someplace," he stood up, took her by the hand and led her out of the compartment.

"It starts," Sirius said nodding his head and smirking, "we haven't even gotten there and they are already off snogging. It's good to have things back to normal, isn't it?"  
  


They arrived at Hogsmeade train station when night had already fallen. All seven of them had changed into their black Hogwarts robes, Gryffindor ties and grey vests. When they stepped off the train with the other students they saw that the sky was perfectly black, but dotted with sparkling diamonds.

"Firs yeas, follow me!" they heard Hagrid yell over the sea of students. Many of the very small children walked over nervously to him, apprehension in their eyes. Everyone else walked up a small hill to carriages drawn by invisible horses, and jumped inside to be carried to the castle. Lily sat next to James, reached into his cloak pocket, which he objected to, and pulled out his Head Boy badge. She looked into his eyes as she pinned it on his chest. He sighed, but didn't say anything in protest.

"You know you want to wear it. You can't fool me, James Potter," she whispered. 

"Yeah, James, you know you want to," Sirius whispered.

"Would you shut up?" James said to him.

"Why do you keep saying that to me? I'm starting to feel unappreciated around here," Sirius said jovially.

"Because you keep yapping nonsense, that's why," James said.

"I am not yapping nonsense. Everyone here is thinking the same thing, I'm just brave enough to say it." 

"I was thinking it, too," Jade said, trying to start a conversation with Sirius. The carriage stopped, the door swung open, and the brilliant Hogwarts entrance welcomed them with warmth and a saffron glow of light. Remus and Liz stepped out first, followed by Peter, then Sirius helped Jade down with his hand, and finally James and Lily emerged. They all walked with their classmates in the Great Hall, the ceiling filled with thousands of floating candles against the beautiful night sky.

It was a great feeling to be back at school, the mere smell of it was comforting. The seven of them sat down in the middle of the Gryffindor table and waited for the great doors to be opened, letting the nervous first years stream through the crowd.

It wasn't till all of them were seated that McGonnagal led them down the center of the hall.

"They're so little!" Lily said, smiling at all of them. McGonnagal picked up a three legged stool, put it in the center of the room, and then placed the very old sorting hat on top of it. The brim of the hat opened, started to sing.

Fairy Tales begin the same

Epics never end, 

Legends are more than fame

But Wizards will never bend.

I ask not questions nor riddles hence

But gaze into your mind

To learn of you and who you are

But more than intelligence do I find.

The noble and the pure of heart

Are not so easily seen, 

Twas Gryffindor who sought them out

And thought they were quite keen.

The loyal and hardworking

Who value time and grace

Were collected up by Hufflepuff

For they could win her race.

The wisest and the cleverest

Who delve in books and wits

Were taken by wise Ravenclaw

For they were her perfect fit.

And then there are the cunning

Ambitious and the sly

Who went to old Slytherin

Never asking why.

So wonder not, my little friends

There is a place for you.

Just fit me tight around your head, 

And we will see how you do.  
  


Everyone applauded, but the first years still looked deathly nervous.

"Now," McGonnagal started, "When I call your name, you will come forward and I will place the sorting hat on your head. Then you will be sorted into your houses. 

"Acrome, Michael," she called. A young boy with brown hair walked forward, and put the hat nervously on his head. "Hufflepuff!" the hat shouted. The Hufflepuff table burst with applause.

"Adrian, Loren," this time it was a small black boy, who ran up to the hat, smiling, thrust it on his head and awaited it's answer. "Gryffindor!" it shouted. Everyone stood and applauded loudly, Lily shook his hand and welcomed him. It was seven years ago, a very fast seven years ago, that the seven of them were sorted. It seemed like yesterday to all of them, as they watched a small girl with curly hair made the next Hufflepuff, they all thought the same thing: their very own sorting....  
  


Remus, Sirius and James all got off the train together. Their confident attitudes were exchanged for over active nerves. They stood there for a while, not exactly knowing what to do next. 

"First years!" A large man, almost a giant, yelled over the mass crowd of people, "First years, follow me!" The three of them followed him, with the rest of their classmates to a great lake where dozens of small boats with lanterns were waiting to be boarded. The three of them got into one of the boats, then watched all of the other student's get into theirs. The great giant of a man was in the lead boat, and when he saw that all of them were in their places, he waved them on and the boats began to move across the glass lake.

"Whoa," Sirius said smiling from ear to ear as he looked at all the other boats. "Do you guys see all of those girls!" 

James and Remus laughed at him. "Sirius, your eleven. Girls? Get real," James said. The boats turned a small corner, a small mound of rocks on the lake, and then they saw it. Everyone in the boats said the exact same thing, "Wow!" The Castle of Hogwarts, which they were all staring at, was purely and simply magnificent, there was no other way to describe it. The towers and turrets shot strait into the sky, and the many windows were aglow with golden light. They all stared up at it, anxious to get inside, and then they went under it, inside a cave, then got off on the shore. The large man gathered all of them in a group, then knocked three times on a great door.

The door opened magically, and they all walked in. The giant held the door open for them and told them to follow the stair case and wait for Professor McGonnagal. Sirius and James were the first ones to walk through the door, followed by Remus, then the rest of the year. Sirius kept looking back at all of the girls, which made James scoff loudly. 

"Welcome to Hogwarts," McGonnagal said to them when they met her in a very large room, with thick round pillars and a very tall ceiling. "In just a few moments you will walk through these doors and be sorted into the four houses. They are Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Your house will be like your family now. You can gain points and lose points for your house. At the end of the year, the points will be tallied; the house with the most points will win the house cup, a great honor. Now," she said, "I will come for you when we are ready. Just wait here." McGonnagal left them waiting, which gave time for Sirius to meet some people.

"James, come on," Sirius said, pulling on his robes.

"I don't want to," James said, "I'm going to stay here with Remus, you go."

"Fine," Sirius said, "your loss." Sirius went back to a group of girls of five or six and introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Sirius," he said to each of them as he shook their hands. They each smiled in return, some of them blushed. Then he moved to another group of three, and they were all very pretty. "I've hit the gold mine," Sirius thought. "Hi, I'm Sirius," he said. Each of them smiled.

"I'm Jade," the one of Asian descent said. She smiled brightly at him.

"Who's your friend," one of them asked, looking forward at Remus and James, who were laughing about something. She had red hair and green eyes.

"Why do you want to know?" Sirius asked smirking. 

"We're ready for you now," McGonnagal said, as she came back into the room, "Follow me."

Sirius ran back up to the front with James and Remus and followed McGonnagal into what must be the Great Hall. Hundreds of students of all years were seated at four long tables, and candles were floating above their heads.

"Whoa," they said. Then McGonnagal pulled out a stool, and a hat, which began to sing. James and Sirius watched it with their mouths wide open. When it finished, McGonnagal started to call names to go forward.

"Albertson, Carl," she called out. A nervous boy with blonde hair stepped forward. McGonnagal put the hat on his head. All the first years waited with bated breath. "Slytherin!" it called out. The table to the far left clapped for him as he joined their ranks.

"UGRH," Sirius said more loudly than he intended, "They're so ugly!"

"I'll say," James replied. James, Sirius and Remus watched more students going forward, but forgot they're names. Every once in a while they saw someone they remembered. Especially when they got to the B's and Sirius started to sweat.

"Banks, Elizabeth!" she said. 

"That's one of the girls that I met," Sirius said, elbowing Remus and James. She put the hat on and in just seconds it shouted, "Gryffindor!"

"About time," James said, "She's the first new Gryffindor. I wonder how many of them make Gryffindor."

"Black, Sirius!" she yelled out.

"Oh man, here it goes," Sirius said, "Cross your fingers, mates," Sirius said as he walked up to the stool. He kept mumbling to himself, "Gryffindor, Gryffindor, you can do it, Sirius, you can do it." He sat on the stool, clenched his fists and said to McGonnagal, "I'm ready!" she smiled and placed the hat on his head. In not more than two seconds it shouted, "Gryffindor!" Sirius smiled with great relief and headed over to the cheering table. James caught his eye and gave him a smile and a thumbs up.

"What if they put me in Hufflepuff," Remus asked nervously, "I'll be all alone."

"Don't worry about it," James said, reassuringly, "Just think Gryffindor, plead with the hat if you must. You'll get in."

Five more people were called, two put in Ravenclaw, on Hufflepuff, and two Slytherins. James looked on at Sirius and wanted to be at that table now, he didn't want to wait. Sirius was talking with some older student's making them laugh even, and James wanted to be there.

"Evans, Lily," McGonnagal shouted. Sirius looked at James and winked at him as he pointed to his new classmates.

"Excuse me," a girl said politely, as she put her hand on James shoulder.

"Oh, sorry," he said, moving out of her way. She smiled when he let her by, and James could have swore he heard his heart beat faster. She walked up to the stool, sat down and McGonnagal put the hat on her head.

James closed his eyes and crossed his fingers, "Gryffindor, please God, let her be in Gryffindor, oh please, Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor," he whispered, concentrating very hard, ignoring Remus tugging on his robe.

"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted.

"YES!" James yelled, jumping in the air, punching it with his fist. The entire Hall fell silent. All of the first years looked at James, and Lily stared at him strangely. Sirius was trying hard not to laugh at James, whose face was quickly turning red. He just wanted for McGonnagal to call some more people so they would all forget about it. James looked over at Sirius in the corner of his eye and saw that he was talking to Lily now.

"What is he doing?" James asked, grinding his teeth. Then he saw that Sirius pointed at James, and Lily looked at him. James looked the other direction and felt his face go even hotter with embarrassment. Remus was also laughing.

"It's not funny," James whispered to him.

"Yes it is," Remus answered back. In what seemed like hours, Remus was finally called forward. James just wanted to go sit down so people would stop giving him strange looks. Remus walked forward, put the hat on his head. It was there for ten seconds or so before it declared him Gryffindor, and he went to sit with Sirius and Lily, and Elizabeth Banks. He would be called shortly, very shortly, and the entire school would laugh at him as he went up there. This was unbelievable, he hadn't even been sorted into his house, and people would already think of him as a freak.

"Pettigrew, Peter," a small stout boy stumbled as he walked up to the hat. James would be next, he knew he would. In just a matter of time, he would try on the hat. The words that Remus had said on the train started to get to him. What if he didn't get into Gryffindor? What if the hat put him into Hufflepuff? All of his friends were in Gryffindor, this could be a disaster. Could you transfer out of a house into another? This Pettigrew character had been sitting on the stool forever, it seemed. James kept sweating, waiting for his name to be called, but the short squat boy was still on the stool. After three minutes, the hat shouted Gryffindor, and he walked thankfully over to the table.

"Potter, James," she said. Ok, this is good. You're cool, James, you'll get into Gryffindor. If that Peter guy can get in, then you sure as hell can. Remember, James, your entire family has been in Gryffindor, you have to get in. He thought this to himself over and over, and also of the pretty red haired girl, Lily. James sat on the stool, and saw the entire school watching him. What if he sneezed and a huge ball of snot shot out of his nose, and the hat fell off of his head? That would be embarrassing. James gripped the seat, and took a deep breath. McGonnagal lowered that hat, he could feel the shadow that it cast.

But then something strange happened, the hat never even touched his head, but still shouted his answer: "GRYFFINDOR!" it yelled, louder than it yelled for any other students. James heaved a sigh of relief, and got off the stool. But he was most interested in the rest of the schools reaction. They were clapping, but also appeared mesmerized by how quickly he was made a Gryffindor. James didn't care what they thought, he had done it. Now he could relax, the worst was over....  
  


"James!" Sirius jabbed him in the side, "Where did you go too?" James looked up, the sorting was over. He had missed the whole thing as he remembered his own. They had about 30 new Gryffindors at the end of the table, all looking quite relieved.

"I have just a few words to say," Dumbledore said, as he stood up and looked down at them all. "First, I would like to welcome our new class, and would like to inform you of the rules. The Dark forest is out of bounds for all students, even the new seventh years," he said, looking over in James and Sirius, direction. "Magic is not to be preformed in the hall ways or the corridors. Nor are dungbombs to be set off. I am looking to our new Head Boy and Girl to keep things in order," James tried to look small, Lily smiled and waved. "Also, Professor Chambers, our former Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, has gotten married and left us to be with his new wife. Our new Professor, Professor Gellar, will be joining us tomorrow from the Salem Institute of America. Now that all of that is in order, let the feast begin!" The golden plates in front of them filled with the best smelling food: roast beef, steak, ham, pork, all kinds of chicken, potatoes, peas, beans, and the most wonderful pies.

"A new teacher from America," Sirius said, "That'll be interesting. I wonder what he's like."

"Probably just as boring as Chambers was," Remus said, "He'll have us asleep in a matter of minutes."

"Don't say that," Lily said, "He's probably a good teacher. Just give him the benefit of the doubt."

"You really are taking this Head Girl thing seriously, aren't you?" Sirius asked her with a grin.

"Do you have a problem with that?" she asked trying to sound intimidating, but actually sounded funny.

"No, Lily. I think you're perfect for the job."

"Thank you."

Just then, Nearly Headless Nick appeared from the middle of the table, scaring the first years out of their minds. He floated over to James and Lily and smiled.

"So you are the new Head Boy and Girl, I hear. Very admirable."

Lily smiled, "Thank you, Sir Nicholas. We're very proud."

"Speak for yourself," James whispered to her.

"So, Mr. Potter," Nick said, "What's the plan for Quidditch? Can't break our winning streak. The Bloody Baron has been telling me that the remaining Slytherin Quidditch team is already in planning for the next season. They're even talking about new captains."

"Are they?" James asked with interest, "Who are they suggesting?"

"Oh I don't know that, as soon as they saw me they ceased their conversation when I went up to them. The Bloody Baron is very protective of his team. Do you have anything planned."

"No," James said, "No, not yet. Nick, I need you to spy on them," Lily grunted with displeasure, "so that we can get an extra edge. I will not see Slytherin take the cup this year, not my last year. I have to leave some kind of legacy behind at this school, other than my picture plastered to some plaque for being Head Boy because no one else could have done it."

"I will spy on them for you, Captain," he said, then left.

"So, Slytherin's planning something are they? They need a new beater, and a new captain. I wonder who they'll choose," James said thoughtfully.

"You don't think Snape will go out for it, do you?" Sirius asked.

"I have had the misfortune to see Snape on a broom, he's terrible. It's a sin for him to be riding it, if you ask me," James said.

"Are the two of you going to talk about Quidditch the entire evening?" Lily asked perturbed.

"Do you have a problem with Quidditch?" James asked, more snidely than he had wanted it to sound. Lily took offense to his tone, and he noticed it.

"I didn't mean for it to come out that way," he said hurriedly, "sorry." Lily turned the other way to talk to Jade, completely ignoring James. He rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Sirius.

"I think we should spy on them," Sirius said, "use the you know what."

"I agree, spying is the only option."

"For crying out loud," Lily said as she whipped back around, "It's just a stupid game! I can't believe you are going to spy on another team just so you can win. That's low and immature."

"It's not a stupid game!" James said back, defensively, "And we're not being immature. We're just trying to find out who the new captain's going to be so we can work harder. And it's none of your business what we do for Quidditch."

"It's my business if you're spying on people," she said. People were beginning to look at them.

"Would you keep it down," he said in a hushed voice to her.

"No, I won't. I know what you plan on doing and it's wrong James. It was one thing to do it last year, but you have responsibilities now. People look up to you, and doing wrong is a bad impression."

"Are you telling me what to do?" James asked, getting angry.

"No, I'm telling you my opinion about this."

"Well for your information," James said, "I don't want it." Lily glared at him, and he glared back.

"Fine," she said. She pushed away from the table, got up and left. Jade and Liz followed her out of the hall.

"You just had a fight," Sirius said, sounding surprised. People lining the table looked at James, shocked at what they just witnessed.

"People have fights. You and I have fights," James said, trying to justify himself.

"No we don't," Sirius said.

"She's not the boss of me. So what if I talk about Quidditch? I don't know why she has such a problem with it all of a sudden. I didn't do anything wrong, did I?" he asked. But his three friends just looked at him and didn't respond. "Did I, Sirius?" he asked again.

"Well, you were a bit short with her. Maybe you should apologize."

"Why do I have to apologize? Why shouldn't she? She was the one that was butting in to our conversation."

"Do what you want then," Sirius said, "I was just giving you my opinion because you asked for it." 

"What are you all looking at?" James yelled at the countless people staring at him. They all looked at their plates, and resumed conversations with each other. James sighed and picked at his food with his fork. His friends were still looking at him. "I'll talk to her," he mumbled, "OK?" he asked, irritated.

"Ok," Sirius said, "Are you going to do it, now or later?"

"Why?" James asked, a note of irritation still lingering in his voice.

"Because you seem upset, and I think it would be better if you straitened this out now so you won't take everyone else's head off."

James looked at Sirius then at Remus, who nodded in agreement, Peter just stared at him. James let out a sigh, pushed away from the table, and stood.

"So you think that I should apologize?"

"Yes," the three of them said in unison. James walked out of the hall, and started for the tower, but didn't know if she was there. He kept thinking in his mind how stupid all of this was, how stupid the fight was, if you want to call it that, and how stupid it is to apologize when he didn't do anything wrong. How was it that she was always calling the shots in their relationship? Why didn't he ever have a say in anything?

Lily was standing by the portrait of the Fat Lady, with her cronies, Liz and Jade. All three glared at him when they saw him come near. He smiled weakly, but not out of friendliness.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked her.

"Yes," she said cooly, but didn't move. Liz and Jade crossed their arms.

"Alone, please," James insisted. The two sighed and walked back to the Great Hall, mumbling to themselves, and looking back at James occasionally. James turned back and looked at Lily. He really didn't want to apologize, maybe she would first. He waited.

"What?" Lily asked, "What did you want to say that was so important that you stopped talking about your stupid sport?"

"It's not stupid," James said, "Why are you so mad at me?"

She laughed shortly, "You have to ask?" 

She was probably doing this just to make him feel stupid, he thought, and it's working. "Yes, I have to ask. I don't think I have done anything wrong, but you seem to hate me."

"I don't hate you," she said. She sighed and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Then what did I say that was so wrong?"

"It just seems like you have become really obsessive about Quidditch. I mean, it seems like that's the only thing that interests you lately. It's the first day back, James, and you are already yapping about it. Class hasn't even started yet."

"I did this last year, you just weren't sitting with me," he said.

"No, James, it's more than that. I'm honestly worried that you will spend more time talking and playing Quidditch than you'll spend time with me. There, I said it. That's what's bothering me." 

James smiled, "That's ridiculous."

"Is it?"

"Yes it is, Lily. I would never spend more time with Quidditch than I would with you," he explained, smiling at her.

Lily looked down at her feet, then back up at him, "You promise?"

"I promise," He took her hands in his and kept smiling at her. She sighed once more and smiled back at him.

"Alright, if you promise, I guess that's good with me."

"Excellent, now let's go enjoy our first day back, shall we?" he asked as he started for the Great Hall. But Lily didn't move.

"Do we have to go right away?" she asked, smiling like a pirate. James turned and walked back to her.

"Isn't there some rule about the Head Girl and Boy spending just a few minutes alone on their first day back in the castle?" he put his hands around her waist and grinned.

"Hmmm...," she said, "I don't remember reading that part. Perhaps I missed it. Perhaps it isn't even in the book."

"It is now."  
  


* * * * *  
  


"New schedules," Sirius said, passing the new itinerary down to the others at the table during breakfast. "Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Lunch, and Herbology. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?" he asked sarcastically.

"At least we don't start the term with Potions," James pointed out, Sirius nodded. 

"And we'll get to see this Professor Gaphen, at least. I wonder if he's as ugly as Chambers," Sirius said.

"Sirius, it's Professor Gellar, not 'Gaphen,' and Professor Chambers wasn't that bad looking," Lily said as she joined the table and examined the new schedule.

"Why must we always have Potions with the Slytherins? Don't they ever change things at this place? Why can't we have Transfiguration with the Slytherins? At least I'm good at that, and Snape isn't. Or charms, Snape is bad at Charms, everyone knows that. Why can't we have a class where we are better than him?" Sirius rambled on.

"We don't need a class to be better than Snape," Remus pointed out. 

"Very true, Moony, very true," Sirius agreed. Just then Peter ran up to the table, looking very shaken, and red in the face.

"Peter," Remus said, "Are you alright?"

Peter nodded quickly, "I need to talk to you," he said to James, "It's urgent."

James looked puzzled. "What's it about?" he asked.

"Something," Peter said, though still looking quite impatient.

"Something?" James asked. He looked at his watch, the bell was to ring at any second for them to go to class. "Well is it really important, or can it wait, because class is about to start."

"It's important. It's about..."

They all leaned forward waiting for the answer, but it didn't come.

"It's about.....?" James said, "It's about what?"

Peter started to chew his nails, "It's about Fran," he whispered. James smiled at him.

"You want to ask for some advice about Fran, yes?" James asked. Peter nodded.

"What about me?" Sirius asked, shocked. "I've had a hell of a lot more relationships than this guy. Why didn't you ask me?"

Lily laughed, "Sirius, quality not quantity." Sirius gave her a fake smile and a rather good imitation of her voice, "Quality, not quantity, Sirius," he said mockingly. "Go polish your Head Goodie, Goodie Badge why don't you."

"Peter," James said, "What would you like to know?"

Peter looked around at the rest of them watching him, then back at James. "Can you come with me?" he asked.

"Sure," James said, getting up and following Peter out of the Great Hall to talk in private.

"How is it that jittery Peter has a girlfriend, and I don't?" Sirius asked, banging his fist on his fork, which shot eggs into his eyes.

Lily and Remus both laughed. "Are you serious, Sirius?" Lily asked, still laughing at the egg residue still lingering on his eyelashes.

"Ha, ha, ha," he said, "You've been with James for far too long if you're asking me that question. And other than the fact that I just shot my breakfast into my eyes, yes. Why can't I find my match?"

Lily rolled her eyes, as did Remus.

"What?"

"Sirius," Lily said, "For some one as smart as you, it's surprising how dumb you can be."

"Excuse me?" he asked defensively, "Dumb? I asked a legitimate question and you bit my head off. I know you know someone, Lily. Why don't you tell me?" 

"I promised her I wouldn't say anything. It's not hard to see who it is, though. Remus even knows, don't you?" she asked, looking over at Remus. Sirius looked at him quickly and with some resentment.

"Is this true, Remus my friend whom I would do anything for if you asked?" he said, his eyes wide. Remus smirked.

"My lips are sealed."

"Now that all of that is taken care of," James said, coming back to the table and picking up his bag, "shall we?" The bell rang just as he said it. 

"James, do you know who likes me?"

"Uh huh," he said casually, taking Lily's hand as he started for the doors.

"And who is it?" Sirius asked.

"I'm not telling you."

"James! You're my best friend! You have to tell me this, you're killing me, man! I told you about Lily, you have to help me out!"

"Sirius, be reasonable here. Lily wanted me to know, didn't you?" he double checked.

"Yes," she said, "She is concerned that you'll make her one of your bimbos that you date, and break her heart."

"Who is she?" he asked again.

"We're not telling!" They all said.

"You're all mean!" he told them as he walked down the corridor to Transfiguration. When they got into the class they noticed that McGonnagal was not seated at her desk. Actually, McGonnagal wasn't even there. There was an old man, with very thick glasses, sitting there instead.

"Whoa," Sirius said, "McGonnagal isn't here. When has that ever happened? Do you think she's ill?"

"I don't know," James said, grinning, "You do know what this means, don't you?"

"No seating chart," Sirius replied sinisterly. 

"That's right. Let's sit in the back, shall we?" Lily rolled her eyes disapproving, but let James go and sit with Sirius in the back. She went and sat with Jade in the middle of the class. Once everyone was seated, the old man rose and cleared his throat.

"Professor McGonnagal went away for a short business affair. I will be here until she returns. I was once a student here-

"Yeah, when they used oil paintings instead of photographs," Sirius whispered, James sniggered. The substitute didn't seem to notice.

"I was in Hufflepuff myself, played keeper on our Quidditch team. It was a different game back then-

"Yeah, everything was different back then," James whispered. "But he did play Quidditch, you have to give him that."

"He has some credibility. So who has a thing for me?"

"Nice try."

"So," the sub continued, "Let's get down to it. First off, where is," he squinted through his glasses and put a paper almost to his nose to read what McGonnagal had written. "Ah, where is Mr. Potter?" Everyone turned to look at James, who rose his hand.

"Thank you. New Head Boy, it says here. Um, next then. Where is Mr. Black?" But Sirius and James knew what he was up to. Sirius pulled out his wand, and shot it at Peter, whose hand rose immediately.

"You're Sirius Black?" he asked Peter, moving closer to him. Sirius and James both nodded subtly to Peter.

"Yes, that's me," Peter said. The sub moved closer to Peter and examined him, as the entire class watched with a smile. 

"It says here, in your professor's note, that Mr. Black is taller, with black hair and a very cocky smile. You my boy, don't seem to match that description," the class giggled when he said 'cocky smile.' "But you, my dear sir," he said moving over to Sirius, who tried to look very interested at the blank chalk board, "fit the description perfectly. Are you Mr. Black?" he asked Sirius.

"Okay, you got me," Sirius admitted.

"Yes, well, Professor McGonnagal has left specific instructions that Black and Potter are not to sit next to each other, so if one of you will trade seats with one of your classmates." James and Sirius looked at one another and rolled their eyes.

"I'll move," James said, getting up, "Jade, trade with me," he said. Jade nodded and headed over to sit next to Sirius. James picked up his bag and moved to the seat next to Lily.

"Alright," the sub continued, moving back to the front of the classroom, and examining the note left for him. "Oh, just one more thing." He turned around and faced the class, "Where is our new Head Girl?" Lily smiled and raised her hand proudly.

"So you're Lily Evans. My congratulations to you."

"Thank you," she said smiling, James winked at her.

"But, your professor has left a note saying, 'The new Head Boy and Girl are not to sit next to one another' she sites a bathroom incident." The entire class laughed at them. 

James stood up with a disgruntled look, "Are we ever going to live that down?" he asked. Lily was red, and didn't move. James took his bag, loudly, took his books and traded seats with Liz who was sitting with Remus. "Before I sit, can I sit with him?"

"Yes, those were the only two exceptions."

"Thank you," he said, as he threw his books on the desk, making a very loud smacking sound.

"I don't like him," James told Remus as he sat down, "not one iota."

Remus was smirking, however. "It is a bit funny though, isn't it?" Remus asked James.

"No. McGonnagal hates me, with every fiber of her being. And I thought some how she actually liked me on some level."

"Mr. Potter," the sub said, loudly.

"Yes?" James asked, growing more and more irritated by the second.

"Are you going to talk through-out the entire lesson?"

"Are you going to dance on my head to the point of my insanity the entire lesson?" James asked boldly, the others in the class were shocked at his statement.

"Excuse me?" he asked, apparently insulted, and not knowing entirely how to handle James. "I think you need a lesson in respect, young man."

"Me?" James asked, now standing up, the entire class extremely entertained with their classroom drama. "You're the one that needs a lesson in respect. You've been dogging me since I stepped through this door, and I don't appreciate it."

"You listen to me, young man, I don't know who you think you are, but I am the teacher here, and I will tell you what to do. Now sit down and keep your mouth shut."

"You didn't just tell me what to do, you insulted me, and Lily who didn't need to be humiliated. She's done nothing wrong. Ever!"

"I think it very sentimental of you to stand up for her, but this isn't about her, it's about you. Now sit down." Reluctantly, James took his seat, but glared at the substitute constantly. 

"Why do you always have to be so confrontational?" Remus whispered to James. 

"I was standing up for myself, Remus. I don't like being disrespected by some nin-come- poop with glasses so thick he can't even see the sun shine."

Remus smiled then faced forward to hear what words of wisdom this professor had to offer. Then it occurred to James that he didn't even know his name. James raised his hand as the sub was in the middle of an explanation about the art of human transfiguration. 

"Yes, Mr. Potter? Question already?"

"Yes, what's your name, Professor? Because it just occurred to me, maybe you're a murderer on the run and you don't want to tell us your name because you're afraid that we might snitch on you. So what is it, Professor?" The professor looked sternly down on James, and frowned. The entire class also looked at James, truly at a loss for words.

"Mr. Potter, you have received a detention, and have lost Gryffindor ten points. Frankly I am shocked that the staff of this school selected you, above all the other seventh year boys, to lead. Report to me after your last class, I will have thought of something creative for you to do."

"So what is it?" James persisted. Sirius laughed loudly at this, James smirked. 

"Professor Molesburge. I will be leaving a note for Professor McGonnagal regarding your behavior and your detention which will prove extensive."

"Professor Molesalot?" Sirius said, standing up and purposely mispronouncing his name, "I will take Mr. Potter's detention. I'll serve it for him, I mean."

"Well, that's very kind of you, but he can serve his own."

"No, it's not that I'm being kind, it's that James is already two detentions up on me, and if you make him serve this detention then he will be three ahead. You see, until last year, James and I always got detention together, it was our legacy, but he got two to my zero last year, and I don't think it's fair that he gets one today. So if you would let me serve it for him, then I would be much obliged."

Professor Molesburge was at a loss. He stood there and looked at Sirius, then at James. He shook his head and mumbled to himself. "NO! You may not take detention for your friend, he will serve it himself, and you will not interfere! And the two of you will sit down and keep your mouths shut!"

Sirius sat down and tried very hard to fight against the giggles but snorted with laughter in the end. James kept grinning from ear to ear as was Remus, and most of the class, with some few exceptions. Lily turned just enough to face James, and frowned at him, no look of amusement in her eyes.

"Potter!" Molesburge shouted, "Come up here, and sit down. I want to keep a close watch on you. And you, Black, you sit down in that far corner."

James got up once more and walked over to the seat that the Sub was pointing to, and Sirius got up and walked to the seat in the far corner. James sat down, took out his parchment and ink and looked like a young school boy very eager to learn.

"Now," the professor said, "Human transfiguration is very difficult."

"Duh," James said under his breath. James didn't think that he actually had to listen to what he was going to say, he was an expert in human transfiguration. And it was approaching that time of month again, when he would go out and explore with his three friends. Hopefully this time, he thought, Hagrid wouldn't touch the liquor. Seeing as how the sub was droning on ceaselessly about the warnings and dangers of transfiguration, James started to write words. Various words, some where how he felt, others, just words. It was extremely boring, of course, but it would go against his value system to listen to the professor.

Sirius, on the far other end of the room, was also writing like James, only his content was much more constructive. He was writing a letter to James asking about this girl that they all kept talking about. They promised not to tell who it was, but perhaps he could write it down instead. Sirius finished his letter, signed it, and crinkled it up into a tight ball. Then he preformed a spell on it to make it heavier so that it would travel farther.

Sirius looked at the sub, who was now droning on and on about the different methods of human transfiguration. In any moment he would turn to write something he thought important on the black board. Sirius coughed three times, the signal for James to look back at him. It was a very convincing cough, so the professor thought nothing of it. James pretended to yawn, and looked back at Sirius as he was commanded to do.

Sirius showed him the note in the paper ball, James nodded. 

"So, class," Molesburge said, "Becoming a legal anamagi can take from two to five years depending on the skill and intelligence of the wizard at hand. In 1523," he turned around to write on the board. Very quickly, James stood up in his seat, turned to face Sirius, who also stood and chucked the paper ball across the room and into James hands, who sat down just as the professor turned back to face the class. There were some small giggles from people, which made Molesburge look at James and Sirius very closely. But both of them were still seated and appeared to be taking notes.

He continued to ramble on. James slowly and very silently opened the letter that Sirius wrote.

"James,

So who is she? I know that you can't tell me, but maybe you can write it down. Come on, you have to tell me something about her, just give me a small hint if you don't tell me her name. Is she in our house, our year, etc. etc. etc.? From Sirius, duh, who else would it be from."  
  


James smirked and shook his head, then turned to look at Sirius and shook his head again.

"Why not?" Sirius mouthed to James. James took his quill and a new sheet of parchment and wrote a letter back.

"Sirius, what are you taking? You know I won't tell you, or write it out. But because you are my friend, I will give you a hint in form of a riddle. I know how much you hate riddles, so this will be fun. Here it is.

I come in three.

I play in five.

In the same house I dwell.

Listen to me carefully,

for my love will be revealed.

Have fun cracking that one!" James crumpled it up, and smirked at his own cleverness. He preformed the same spell that Sirius used to make it heavier, then watched the professor.

"It wasn't until 1524 that wizarding law set an age limit on this, and made laws according to it. It is the spell of Vuluptions which carries this out," he turned to write it on the board. James jumped up out of his seat, and chucked the note to Sirius, who caught it and sat down.

He opened it quickly and read the riddle inside; he almost threw up.

"What the hell is this?" he mouthed at James, who laughed at his confused facial expression.

"The answer!" James mouthed back, then faced the front of the class and wrote all the famous Quidditch players, and moves he could think of for the remainder of the class.


	15. Professors Gellar and Trelawny

Author's note: It will take me from 3-5 days to update a new chapter, perhaps longer or shorter. If you would like for me to notify you personally of the update you can email me or leave your address in a Review. I accept all reviews now, even if not registered with the fanfiction.net. So let me know : the5thmarauder@msn.com.

*** The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn' to be sold, reproduced or taken as true. The main characters and most locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. No copyright infringement is intended.***  


Part Two: Professors Gellar and Trelawny

"Expect the unexpected, it will always turn the corner."

  
  


"What a nightmare he was," James said as they left the classroom. "He hated me. McGonnagal hates me. Snape hates me, everyone hates me."

"I don't hate you," Sirius said smiling.

"I wonder what he's going to have me do for detention," James thought, as the four boys waited patiently in the hallway for Lily, Jade and Liz who came out looking surly.

"What kind of stunt was that?" Lily asked James clearly very angry.

"He was dogging us. I was just defending us."

"Oh please," she said walking past him for the next class. James ran after her with his friends in tow.

"What is the matter with you?" James asked her. She looked at him with lividness. 

"How can you not know? You acted like a three year old in there. It was embarrassing."

"I wasn't acting three. He was horrible to me, Lily."

"You were disrespectful to a teacher," she yelled at him. People in the hall started to stop and watch the scene unfold. 

"Only because he was disrespectful to me. Look, I got a detention for it, I don't think I need you getting in my face!"

"Someone needs to. You're acting like you're king or something!" This upset James greatly. Snape had said a similar phrase last year, but it meant nothing coming from him, but everything coming her.

"What?" he asked.

"You heard me. I don't think you were defending honor back there. I think you were trying to get everyone to laugh and think, 'oh, isn't James a crack up!' Well congratulations, it worked. Just answer me this, James, when are you going to grow up?"

"When are you going to stop acting high and mighty?" James asked angrily. Then Sirius stepped into the middle of them.

"Whoa, whoa. Stop this. What has gotten into the two of you? This is the second time in twenty four hours that you have fought. Now what is the matter?" he asked, looking at the both of them.

Lily crossed her arms and exasperated. James shook his head constantly. 

"James, apologize to Lily for your behavior," Sirius said. James opened his mouth in shock.

"I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Ha! As if," Lily responded.

"What's that supposed to mean?" James asked Lily. 

"What do you think it means?"

"STOP IT!" Sirius yelled. "For crying out loud, you two need to resolve this. James in all honesty you shouldn't have challenged the sub like that. And I shouldn't have either. Lily, James is getting punished for it, and he knows he was wrong, don't you James?" he asked, looking at his friend who still looked miffed. 

"I guess," James said. 

"So you don't need to be angry with him. Can you two shake hands, or kiss or something?"

"I want to hear him apologize, first," Lily said as James was going to her.

"What?" James asked insulted. 

"Say-you're-sorry."

"I know what it means. Why don't you apologize?"

"Me? What did I do?"

"Okay, this isn't working," Sirius said. "James, just say you're sorry so we can go to class."

"But I didn't-

"James! Just say it."

James rolled his eyes and mumbled very silently so that no one heard what he said.

"Lily," he said with much reservation, "I'm sorry." Lily nodded her head approvingly.

"Thank you," she said.

"Can we go to class now?" Sirius asked, "Have we fixed this problem?" They both nodded their heads. "Thank you. We have other things to worry about like this new professor and the girl that you say really likes me."

Jade blushed furiously and looked quickly at Lily.

"So this riddle, James, what does it mean?"

"R-r-riddle?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, supposedly this chick really has a thing for me, and they won't tell me who she is. So James wrote this riddle to help me figure it out, but I looked at it all last period and I couldn't get anything out of it. Hey, do you know who she is?"

Jade felt her face go red. "Um, yeah. I know who she is." Lily smiled sympathetically at her, as did James.

"Who?" he asked.

"It's um..." Jade looked uncomfortable with this, but Sirius kept looking at her hoping that she could crack. "It's...well, she's um...It's a secret." 

"Come on, Jade, you can tell me. I really want to know who she is."

"I know she's afraid that you'll just treat her like any of your other girls, and dump her in a few weeks. She's real, Sirius, she doesn't want to be treated like that." Lily, James, Remus, and Liz all smiled at her encouragingly.

Sirius looked like he didn't know what to say, for once in his life. But she was right, he thought, he never had anything real. He kept thinking about his past all the way to the Defense against the Dark Arts class. 

The classroom itself was very large, with three rows of tables, two people to each. Lily made it clear that she wanted to sit next to Jade, which hurt James , but he covered it and sat with Sirius. They ended up sitting just in front of the two girls, and waited for Professor Gellar to enter. Remus and Liz sat in front of Sirius and James, and Peter and Fran sat in front of them.

James and Sirius were very silent and melancholy as they sat there thinking about their life choices. Jade hit him right in the nose, and he didn't even see it coming.

"So where is this guy?" James asked Sirius. 

"I don't know. Do you think she's right?" he whispered to James.

"Well, you do kind of go through them."

Just then the door opened, and the class waited to see the new Professor from the United States. James and Sirius watched, then gasped at who they saw.

Professor Gellar was not an ugly old man. He wasn't ugly, or old, or a man for that matter. Professor Gellar was a woman, and a beautiful one at that. She walked through the door gracefully, and caught the attention of all the boys in the room. She had long shiny black hair, piercing blue eyes, fair skin, and a gorgeous face. She was wearing powder blue robes made of silk, and a blue diamond necklace around her neck.

Sirius' jaw fell when he saw her, as if she was frozen in time. James was also mesmerized by her Greek goddess like appearance.

"Good morning class," she said, in a soft voice, "I am the new teacher here, Professor Celeste Gellar. Professor Dumbledore requested that I teach this year, and I was only too happy to. I have never been in Great Britain before, this is all very new to me." She smiled brightly and when she did so did all the boys. But they all smiled the same way, which was rather goofily.

"There really is a God," Sirius said more loudly than he intended, for the entire front half of the class heard him, including the Professor.

"Excuse me?" she asked grinning. Sirius' face went red, and James, who had previously been feeling sorry for himself, forgot everything when he saw how uncomfortable Sirius now was.

Sirius stood up, and smiled at her. "I want to welcome you to Hogwarts. I was worried that Professor Chamber's replacement would be just like him. But now that's it's you, I was just thanking our Lord in heaven, because I have this feeling about people, like I know them, and I just feel that you are a very good teacher and a kind person. So..." Sirius rambled, James sniggered silently. "Anyway, I'm Sirius Black and I am eagerly awaiting our first lesson so I'm going to sit down now, and watch you- work magic, watch you work magic, I mean." Sirius sat down and covered his face as the rest of the class laughed at him. Remus turned around to talk to him, but was chuckling so severely he couldn't even throw one insult.

"So, let me take roll, then, and we'll get started," Professor Gellar said. She started calling out names, and when she hit Sirius she smiled. When she finished, she opened a envelope.

"Professor Chambers has left a note saying that you have covered the unforgivable curses and how best to try to fight them. So that leaves the primary defenses such as the full body shield which will protect you from most dark magic with exceptions of the three unforgivable ones. But the full body shield is extremely difficult and hard to come by. Only a few wizards out of one hundred can preform a good spell, the rest are just weak attempts. Never the less, I will teach you how to preform this spell because you never know when it will come in need."

It is likely that more than five sixths of the boys hadn't heard a word that she said, but never blinked when she said them. Sirius was still staring at her with very wide eyes, as if he had never seen a woman before. But whenever James wanted to take a good look, he felt himself being pinched by Lily who sat right behind him.

Lily and Jade already hated Professor Gellar, though Lily was listening to what she was saying. Jade, on the other hand, was imagining ways in which the Professor would die. After all, she seemed so close to finally getting Sirius' attention, until this Yankee showed her face.

  
  


It always seems that when you want time to slow down, it has a very stubborn habit of speeding up. At least that's what Sirius was thinking when the bell rang and they had to go to lunch. Lily, Jade and Liz, however, were only too happy to pull James, Sirius and Remus out of the class. James and Remus did their best impressions to convey gladness that the bell had rung, but Lily and Liz saw right through them. Sirius on the other hand, showed no effort to look delighted that class was over. He almost cried, actually, at the thought of leaving.

"I have never seen a more beautiful woman in my entire life," Sirius told Remus, James and Peter. Jade found this to be rather insulting and fell back behind the four boys to stay with Lily and Liz, who were also appalled by their behavior.

"So how do we knock her off?" Jade asked them.

"Jade!" Lily said surprised, though she was smiling.

"What? Don't pretend you like her. James was drooling over her just as much as the other three. I think we should poison her, personally, unless one of you knows the Avada Kedavra curse. That would be even better, you could never trace it back to us."

"Remus stopped breathing when she walked into the room. It made me sick to my stomach," Liz said.

"I'll bet you money they're all talking about her now," Jade stated. "Probably talking about her excellent proportions."

"I wonder if we just stop here, if they would even notice that we're gone," Lily said thoughtfully.

"Let's try it," Jade replied. The three of them moved out of the flow of traffic and watched the four boys proceed to the Great Hall. None of them ever turned around, not even once.

"That's insulting," Liz said, "Don't you think?" she asked Lily.

"Well, yeah. But they are just boys. We know that James and Sirius are so thick it's amazing that they can actually learn."

"Oh I couldn't believe that Sirius didn't pick up on you, Jade," Liz said.

"He is so dense," Lily said in agreement.

"Do you think he'll ever figure it out?" Jade asked.

"Eventually. But not on his own. The three stooges will have to inform him. They'll be so sick of it one of them will accidently blurt it out. But I do think he likes you. Remember what he did to Dominic in June?" Lily pointed out. 

"Yeah, I know."

"So let's go have lunch and talk about it, cause we won't be talking to those goons," Lily said. They walked to the Hall and sat down at the end of the table, the boys didn't even notice them. But they all thought that the enthusiasm for her would fade as time went by, but it didn't.

They talked about her all through lunch and into Herbology.

"Sirius, you couldn't have been more shallow. She saw through you like glass," Remus said, as he popped a bulb of a very nasty plant.

"I just wish I had gotten a detention from her. Maybe I could talk to her about whatever it was we learned today. Do you guys catch that? What did she talk about?"

"Something about the three curses," Peter said. 

"No, I thought she was talking about strong wizards or something," James said.

"I don't think so," Remus said.

"You have to thank the Lord for making women like that," Sirius said. Other boys in the Green house looked at Sirius and smiled, "Amen to that," they all said.

Jade, Liz and Lily all exasperated loudly.

"I'm moving to America, cause she's probably going back."

"You're never moving out of England," James said.

"Oh yes I am. Me and my motorcycle, James, me and the bike."

Jade looked angrily at Sirius, and then tried to imagine the bulbs they were popping as Professor Gellar's head.

"Would one of you be so kind as to remind me of why I like him so much," Jade said.

"We would, but we're trying to think of why we like them so much," Liz said.

"They'll get over her," Lily reassured them, "She's just a pretty face on a pretty body. We have substance. And they care about us."

"They won't even talk to us after class. James will go serve detention, then he'll come back and talk to the other three about her some more. I just wish that you can keep things in one way," Liz said.

"What do you mean?" Jade asked.

"Well, Remus just seemed so enamored with me when we first got together, and now things are a lot different. I liked it better when he actually got excited to see me." 

"Yeah. Me too," Lily said thoughtfully, as she twisted the ring on her finger and looked at James.

  
  


Liz turned out to be right. None of them noticed the three girls. Sirius decided to go back to Professor Gellar's classroom and 'help her adjust to the big move.' Remus went with him for moral support. Lily had to remind James that he had to serve detention for Molesburge, and he went reluctantly.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," Molesburge said as James moped into the classroom, "I have a whole list of things for you to do."

"Oh goodie," James said sarcastically.

"First, you are to write on the board five hundred times, 'I, James Potter, will not disrespect the professor.' You will of course do that without magic. Then I have arranged for you to polish all the Head Boy and Girl plaques till they sparkle. When you finish that, you can help Mr. Filch clean the Great Hall. If you don't finish all of this tonight, you can continue tomorrow night. Is that clear."

James nodded.

"Good, here is a box of chalk. When you have run out of room, I will count the number, record it, then you will erase and begin again. You'd better get to it." 

James snatched the box of chalk out of his hands and moved over to the black board and began to write. What he really wanted to do, however, was to draw pictures of Molesburge and write very nasty remarks about him. But he'd just have to settle for imagining him dangling over a lake of crocodiles instead.

At "I, James Potter, will not disrespect the professor," number 112, his hand started to cramp. Why couldn't he have been ambidextrous? Why did you have to run your mouth, you idiot? he thought. You just couldn't keep it to yourself, just had to keep digging that hole, didn't you. Way to go, dumb-ass.

Then the professor started to hum. He started to hum a truly annoying tune with no apparent pattern. James was convinced he was doing it just to irritate him and so far it was working. Gosh he would just love it if 'Moles' started to choke. Then he could go up to him and say, "I'll help you, but you have to say, 'I, Molesburge, will never dishonor you, James Potter, again,' five hundred times before he gave him the highmlick. 

Then the classroom door opened, but James didn't look to see who it was, he just continued writing, his hand feeling ready to drop off.

"Professor, I was wondering if you knew where one could go to learn about anamagi." James knew that voice from anywhere, it was Snape. Why was he asking about anamagi? Did he know?

"Oh, yes, Potter," Snape said. James turned around and saw that he was grinning. "I have heard rumors about you all day long, most of them appear to be true."

James wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of an answer, so he continued writing on the black board.

"Is it true, Potter, that you fought with Lily today?" James knew that Snape was just trying to get a rise out of him, and he knew that mentioning Lily was the biggest button to hit. James didn't say anything.

"Hmmm. It would be such a.....shame, if things didn't work out in the end, wouldn't it?" Don't say anything, James, just keep writing cause you have a long way to go. "I just don't see how you can disagree with her, Potter. If I were the one with her, I would give her the world." Okay, so he's getting to you just a little. A little? Who are you kidding, James? Just stab him in the heart with an envelope opener and get him out of your life. "Of course, if I had her, I wouldn't be here, writing the same phrase 500 times, would I? No, I would be holding her in my arms and kissing her neck."

James turned around and charged him with full force knocking him to the ground.

"You stay away from her!" he yelled.

"Mr. Potter!" the professor screamed, pulling James off of Snape who was sprawled on the floor. James pulled away from him and went at Snape again, but Snape got up and backed away.

"What is the meaning of this?" Molesburge asked.

"Potter attacked me, Professor," Snape said with an evil grin.

"Snape provoked me. He was asking for it."

"What am I going to do with you?" Molesburge asked James, completely ignoring Snape who was grinning with pleasure. "First class, then you attack another student?"

"He was threatening to harm my girlfriend!" James yelled.

"I did nothing of the sort," Snape said.

"I heard him say nothing, Mr. Potter," Molesburge said.

"Are you deaf?" James asked, which was another huge mistake.

"I have had enough of your attitude. You start over, write it five hundred more times and you can add to the phrase, "and I will not attack my classmates.' Is that clear Mr. Potter?"

"But he-

"I can make it seven hundred times." James silenced and glared at Snape's smug expression. Oh what he wouldn't give to take a brick and beat him with it at this very moment. James backed up, turned around and went back to the chalk board, picked up the chalk and stated to write. He pressed the chalk really hard on the board so it made a very ugly sound.

Snape, with a book on anamagi in hand, walked down the few steps and headed for the door. James watched as he left wishing that Snape would just explode on the spot, but he didn't. Instead, Snape flipped himself around and smiled at James, then pursed his lips like a kiss. James crushed the chalk in his hand to a fine powder he was so angry.

  
  


It was seven minutes after eight when James finished writing, "I, James Potter, will not disrespect the professor or attack my classmates," 500 times on the chalkboard. He crossed his fingers that Molesburge wouldn't remember the other two parts of the detention, but he did.

"Here is the polish, and a rag. I think you know where the room is," and he sent James to it, promising that he would inspect it himself when James had finished. So he started his way to the Honorary room slowly, passing the Great Hall on the way. Some people were still having dinner, which sounded very good right now. But he couldn't go in there. Then he saw his friends, who looked a little too preoccupied to actually feel sorry for him. Sirius looked rather pleased with himself, as did Remus and Peter, who no doubt helped Professor Gellar with something or other.

"When are you going to finish?" Remus asked him.

"In about five years. He had me write over 500 times on the chalk board, and now I am on my way to polish plaques. No, just wait there's more. After that I get to spend some quality time with Filch cleaning the Great Hall. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, then Snape came in the room, and I swear I wanted to kill him. He just wanted to get me into more trouble and he did, the bastard. I don't know what irritated me more, Snape winning, or the things he said. Wait...yeah, the things he said for sure. But, that's me. What are you three up to?"

"We helped our new Professor move into her office. And we found out a lot about her," Sirius said smiling, "Like the fact that she is 20, unmarried, lived on the Florida coast, likes to swim and water ski, and played chaser for the Salem Institute. How's that for perfect?"

"You do realize that she's a teacher and you're a student, right? Things would never happen," James said.

"I can dream, can't I?"

"How are you doing with that riddle?" James asked.

"Riddle? Oh, that. I actually haven't looked at it since Celeste came into my life."

"She's not in your life, you know. She's a professor. It would never even happen, Sirius. Work on the riddle, trust me."

"Yeah, yeah. We'll see you around," Sirius said then went into the Great Hall. James started walking again, but then he ran into Lily, Jade and Liz, who looked rather upset.

"Hey," he said with a smile. They looked at him, but didn't really look happy about seeing him. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

"What do you think?" Jade asked.

"Um, I don't know, you all seem upset about something."

"But you don't know what that is?" Liz asked.

"No. Should I?"

The three of them laughed evilly and kept walking past him. James grabbed Lily's arm and held her back.

"What?" she asked. James was hurt by her tone.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Don't you have detention to serve?" she asked.

"Yes, but it's detention not a prison term. Just let me talk to you for a second, alright?" Lily signaled for her friends to go on without her, and she went with James.

"Look, I feel kind of bad for ignoring you today. I just want you to know that I was being foolish, I just didn't expect...well..."

"For the new teacher to be a woman?"

"Exactly. It was shocking, and you have to admit she is pretty. But I don't think anyone's as beautiful as you are, and never will. You know that, right?"

She hated him when he did this. How can someone be such an idiot then turn around and be so charming? She fought hard to keep her face emotionless, but she really wanted to smile at him. She forgave him right away, but didn't really want to let him off the hook so easily.

"You weren't acting like it. It was like I wasn't even there," she said.

"I knew you were there, it was impossible not to know. I think you left pinch marks on my neck."

She smirked then laughed a little.

"Does this mean you don't hate me anymore? You still want to marry me?"

"Yeah," she whispered then kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her and wished he didn't have about 1,000 more hours of detention.

"Mr. Potter," it was Molesburge, he was busted.

"Just kill me," James whispered before he turned to see the irate professor standing with his arms crossed. "Yes, I know. I just ran into her, and thought she needed some consolation because her cat just died."

Lily tried to look sad to go along with the story. 

"I'm on my way to the place now where all the plaques are located. Goodbye Lily. Everything's going to be fine. Fluffy is in a better place now, chasing mice to his hearts content, playing in the giant sandbox in the sky." Lily covered her face, but not to stop the tears but to keep from laughing. 

James looked back at Molesburge, waved, and moved on to the Honorary room. He had never actually spent a lot of time in there, it was pretty boring, but he had forgotten how much work there was to do. James opened the door and looked inside; he felt like puking. It was a hexagonal shaped room, with high walls each of which was covered in plaques. Then it occurred to him: there was a Head Boy and Girl every year, and the school had been in existence for around 1,000 years. He was going to be here for the rest of eternity.

He walked to the right, thought is was a good enough place to start, sprayed the substance on the plaque and began to polish, and polish and polish. Usually he had Sirius to talk to but now he was totally alone, unless you want to count the two thousand previous Hogwarts student's hanging on the walls.

He was on the last wall when he looked at his watch; it was 3:50 a.m. and he still had to go to the Great Hall with Filch. He was fighting to keep his eyes open, his stomach was grumbling, and his hands were stuck in clenching positions.

"Mr. Potter," said a voice he didn't really want to hear. James looked down the ladder he was standing on and saw Professor McGonnagal. "You can come down now, James."

James walked down the ladder, a little more quickly than he wanted to, and hit the ground. She was smiling at him, which he found to be very surprising.

"You can go to bed now, you don't have to help Filch in the Great Hall. Professor Molesburge has left me a note about the on-goings of yesterday morning, and I think you have paid for the crime."

"Thank you. I'll never talk back in your class again, I promise," he said weakly. She smiled and insisted that he go to bed before he fell over. So he did, though he stumbled many times on his way to the tower. 

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.

"Quarante," James yawned, and the door swung open. He walked inside, shuffling his feet and tripped over the carpet. He looked over at the couch in front of the fire place and saw Lily lying on it. He walked over to it and sat on a small place by her waist.

He smiled and passed his hand through her hair. She stirred then smiled and held his hand in hers and opened her eyes.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Four," he said.

"Did you just finish?"

"Yeah, sort of. McGonnagal came and rescued me. Why are you out here?"

"I was waiting up for you."

"Ah," he said playfully, "I'm going to go to sleep for a whole three hours. I might sleep till ten, who knows."

"You have Divination tomorrow, right?"

"Yep. So it's not like it's overly important."

"Don't skip class, James," she said tiredly. She sat up and leaned on his shoulders still very droopy-eyed.

"I think someone's a bit tired. Just out of curiosity, did Sirius look at that riddle anymore?"

"I don't think so. Could you carry me up stairs, please?" she asked, her eyes were closed.

James laughed a little, "Yes, dear. Come here," he reached for her and hoisted her up into his arms and proceeded to carry her up the stairs to the seventh year dormitories.

"Thank you," she said wearily. He set her down and she opened her door.

"See you in the morning," he said then kissed her.

"See you in the morning," she said.

  
  


* * * * *

"James," Sirius said, shaking his friend who was still asleep at a quarter to eight. "James, it's time to go to class, get up."

James groaned and smashed his face into his pillow. Sirius persisted.

"James, get up. We have to go to class and have Trelawny predict how I'm going to die next week. You don't want to miss that, do you?"

James nodded in his pillow.

"James, if you don't get your fat ass out of bed, I'm going to pour a bucket of ice water all over you. I'm going to count to three."

James groaned again and started to move.

"One," Sirius started, picking up the bucket.

James moved more, but didn't make any progress.

"Two," he said shaking the bucket over his head.

"Okay, okay..." James said turning over on his back, "I'm getting up." James got up, put on his robes and walked with his friends silently to Divination. They climbed the rope ladder, and walked into the heavily perfumed room. It was very warm inside, and the window's were covered with red velvet curtains, making it very dark. 

"Why didn't we drop this class?" Sirius asked as he sat at the table. James didn't feel much like sitting in the hard wooden chairs, so he crashed in a poof in the back of the class. It felt good to sit there, comfortably. The perfumed air made him feel more drowsy than he already was.

"Good morning," Trelawny said in her airy tone as she emerged from the darkness. "I feel a great burden in the air."

"Here she goes," Sirius mumbled to Remus, who smiled.

"Yes, you my dear," she said to Erin Patterson, "Watch for the silent man." Erin looked at Remus quickly. 

"And you," she said to Sirius.

"Any bets today, boys?" Sirius asked.

"Expect the unexpected."

"What? What do you mean by that?" Sirius asked, "It's a little vague, care to narrow it down for me?"

"I have seen you, in a different way," Trelawny said, though very solemnly.

"You mean other than six feet under and headless?" he asked. The class all laughed at this, she did not.

"No, you have a different role in the future. It is a burden to have an inner eye, I tell you. To see the future of others can be very disturbing."

"A different role? What the hell does that mean?" Sirius asked more harshly.

"I don't appreciate your tone, young sir," she said losing some of her composure.

"Well I don't appreciate you telling me that I'm going to bite the dust every lesson," he said. Remus leaned over to him.

"Are you trying to get a detention by any chance?" Remus whispered.

Sirius smiled, "Did you consult your 'inner eye' for that one?" he asked, deliberately mocking Trelawny. Remus chuckled.

"Today, my young seers," she began, taking her attention away from Sirius, "We are going to consult the solar system, please take out your charts of the heavens."

"Is it just me, or do we always do the same things in this class? Tea leaves, Crystal balls, star charts, palm readings? Are we ever going to move on?" Sirius asked.

"That's a good question. I just think we get more advanced as we progress," Remus answered.

James only heard half of the conversation that was going on in the class. He kept drifting in and out, his eyes kept wanting to close yet he kept fighting them. Then without warning his eye lids over threw him, and shut. James fell fast and deep asleep and it felt good.

"You really shouldn't doze off in my class, Mr. Potter." It was Trelawny. James opened his eyes and saw that the classroom was completely empty and very bright. All the curtains were drawn back to let the sunshine in, and the fire had been extinguished.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

"There not here," she said. James noticed that she was talking completely normally and seemed lucid for once.

"How long was I sleeping?"

"Just a few moments." Just a few moments? That didn't make sense. "You are dreaming, James. You are still in class, and I am teaching."

"What?" this was very confusing.

She smiled pleasantly. "It is very rare that a true seer comes along, James. There is only a small part of Professor Trelawny that can see into the future, and when she does she will not remember it. I am the one who can see into your life and what's lies ahead of you. I know this sounds very strange, but it is true. I am the part of your professor that can see."

James was very confused. Maybe he inhaled some chalk dust or Snape slipped him something when he knocked him to the ground yesterday. Yeah, that had to be it. This was far too weird to be happening.

"I know you probably don't believe me. Sometimes I make true statements, but they seem so broad. For example, your friend will have a different role in the future, one he will pursue with all of his heart. But that won't be for quite a while."

"So Sirius' isn't going to die, like you keep saying he will?" He knew this was stupid to ask, because it was a very quirky dream, but he might as well go along with it.

"Sirius will die as we all do, but not for many years. Sirius will live a very long time, not all of the years will be good, but he will live long. Longer than you." The way she said that sent a chill up his spine and he hoped she would wake him up soon.

"So why am I here right now?" James asked.

"I have come to tell you something. I will give my first prediction in June, and I will give it to you."

"Why can't you tell me now?"

She smiled again, "Because you think this is all a hoax. It isn't, I promise you. It will be a heavy message, one that you will only see half of. But it will come true, and it will change the world. I will try to make it as easy to understand as possible, but sometimes it comes out rather....jumbled.

"But I need you to tell others about it, so I can have some credibility, you see."

"I still don't understand, why June?" James asked.

"It will be the last time you ever see me, James. It will leave a lasting impression on you."

James just wasn't buying it. If she was really Trelawny, then why didn't she come out and say something meaningful instead of being so vague.

"Why should I believe you?" he asked.

"The future becomes the past, does it not?" she asked, smiling at him.

"I suppose," James said.

"Alright. You had a dream last year. A dream that you told no one about but wanted to have again. A dream of Quidditch, of a team you had never seen. It was the seeker that caught your eye, was it not?"

James didn't know how she knew that, only...if he was dreaming then his own mind could come up with that. James smirked.

"So," he said.

"You'll be seeing him in a matter of years."

"I still think your phony, all inside my own imagination."

"I can't say I blame you. But here's something that will happen to you in the near future. Do you want to know that?" she asked, coming closer to him.

"Why not?" he said casually.

"You will have a terrible fight. One that will cause you much pain, but it is mostly your fault. You will put your priorities in the wrong place, and you will hurt and be hurt as a result. But let me tell you something I know you will do. Listen to your friend, Sirius. He will give you some advice that you should follow for once. Do what he says, and all will be well again."

"Oh yeah, huh? So who am I fighting with?" James asked, still smirking.

"You will see in a little while who that is."

"Okay. So if you can see into the future, what will I be doing in five years, huh?"

Trelawny frowned, and stepped back. "Watching," she said. "You will be watching."

"Watching? Watching what?" he asked.

"You will be seeing something which will break your heart, but can do nothing about. I don't want to discuss it further. But since you want to know your future, I will tell you this: you will be famous. You will be famous and beloved the world over. You will do great things, James. Your father was right. The world will forever know the name Potter, because you will give a great gift to the world, a great gift."

"What?" James asked. He was no longer smirking but staring at her, transfixed by what she had said.

She smiled yet again, "You'll see. I promise you will see. It is time for you to be going now, James. Remember what I have told you. Take Sirius advice this time, it is the one time when he will be right. I know, James, you're thinking about all that I have said. Sirius is going to be fine, he can take care of himself."

"Wait, before I go, I want to ask you-

"What will Sirius be doing in five years, so that you can tell him when he asks with great sarcasm?"

"Yes, he's not going to believe this, nor is Lily. What will she be doing?"

"Sirius, in five years will be doing many things. Worrying mostly, that the duty assigned to him isn't be carried out perfectly. He will be wishing, thinking, regretting and remembering. But mostly worrying. But like I said, he will be alright. Lily will be....watching, a little more closely than you. That is all I can say. I will see you in June, James. Good day."

James opened his eyes suddenly to find Sirius shaking him and hovering over his head.

"James," he said smiling, "you slept all through class, you lucky prat." James sat up quickly. Everyone was leaving the class, it was still dark, smelled of thick perfume and was sweltering hot; Trelawny was no where to be seen.

James got up suddenly and went for the beaded curtains that made up her office door and went inside. She was hovering over a crystal ball, looking like an insect with big eyes.

"Professor?" he said, moving some bead strings aside so that he could come in.

"Yes?" she said airily but still looking into her orb.

"What will I be doing in five years?"

She looked up at him and smiled. "I cannot reveal to you the secrets of the future."

Just as he suspected. He turned and left, joined his three friends at the bottom of the rope ladder, and walked towards the History of Magic class.

"Are you alright, James?" Sirius asked. "Because you look like a zombie."

"I just had the weirdest dream in the long history of weird dreams. And what really freaks me out is that I am actually believing it because it seemed so real."

"What was it about?" Remus asked. James told them the gist of it, and what he thought about it. When he finished, they each looked at him funny.

"So, what do you think?" he asked.

"You had to use polish for the Head Boy plaques, yes? I think you inhaled some of it," Sirius said.

"Maybe it was the perfume in the room. It always makes me feel stupid," Remus said.

"Maybe she put a funky hex on you because you fell asleep in her class again," Peter suggested.

"So you think I'm off my rocker?" he asked them, to which they all nodded.

"Yeah, I mean who are you going to have a terrible fight with other than Snape? And if you fight Snape it's not going to hurt you, unless of course you lose," Sirius said.

"That whole watching thing, it really freaked me out," James conceded. 

"James, I doubt very much that it was real. Maybe in five years you go to a Quidditch match, and you bet thousands of galleons on your team and they're playing really bad. That's something that will break your heart and can do nothing about," Sirius said very meaningfully. 

"I doubt that she would tell me that. But I promise never to bet for a team."

"I do like the idea of living a long time, though. It's very comforting. Did she mention who I'll be marrying?" Sirius asked, smirking.

"Probably," he started but caught himself, "nice try. Just work on that riddle."

"So, what am I going to be doing in five years?" he asked sarcastically.

"See, she knew you were going to ask that!" James yelled.

"No, you knew I was going to ask that because you have known me since the dawn of time. So what will I be doing?"

"She said you'll be worrying about your duty that isn't being preformed perfectly or something like that, and you'll be thinking, wishing, remembering and regretting."

"Everyone does that. See, I told you she's full of it. Try to forget about it, and stay away from that polishing solution."

* * * * * * *

After History of Magic and Care for Magical creatures, class was over for the day. James went up to the library, though his friends told him that he was crazy, because he wanted to see if what had happened to him wasn't outside the realm of possibilities.

"You're not going to find anything, Prongs," Sirius said to him, but James didn't listen to him.

The other three, however, went back to the common room to attempt homework. 

"Right, so I am opening my transfiguration book now," Sirius said loudly so that the entire common room looked at him, but he was really reading the riddle that James had written him, and had it hidden inside the pages. "Right," Sirius said loudly again, and they all looked at him, "Transfiguration, the transforming of things into other things," he almost yelled.

"Thank you, Sirius, we had no idea!" Lily yelled back, smiling.

"Your welcome, Lily! Hey, how are you at riddles?" he asked her, as she came over and sat next to him on the sofa.

"I'm good at them. Why?"

"Help me out with the riddle James wrote, will you?" he asked.

"I really shouldn't. You should do this on your own."

"Come on, Lily. I thought you were my friend, I thought you loved me, I thought you cared." Lily laughed and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Sirius, I know who she is, and you know I do. I'm afraid I would totally give it away if I helped you."

"That's the point, Lily. He gave me the riddle so I could guess who it is. So help me, good friend," he whined.

Lily looked at him with a smile, "Let me see it," she said with her hand out.

"Thank you so much!" he said, putting his arm around her shoulders and giving her the riddle.

"Okay," she said, looking at it. "I come in three. Oh that's easy."

"What is it? Explain it to me."

"Well, she does come in three. Just think about it, Sirius."

"What do you think I have been doing?" Then Liz came over and sat across from them in a giant arm chair.

"What are you two doing?" she asked.

"We're trying to solve the riddle for Sirius' mystery woman. You want to help?" Lily asked.

"Sure, what's first?"

"'I come in three,'" Sirius said, "Have any ideas?" Liz and Lily smiled at each other and winked. "So are the two of you going to help me, or are you going to mess with my mind." They both laughed at the simplicity of the riddle, for they knew the answer, then Jade came over.

"What's so funny?" she asked. Liz pulled Jade over to sit in the chair next to her.

"We're helping Sirius with the riddle," she said.

"Oh are you?" she asked nervously, "How's it coming?"

"We haven't even gotten past the first line because we keep getting interrupted!" Sirius said.

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Lily said, patting his hand. "Okay, so, 'I come in three.' That's the first part of it. I think it means that she might have two sisters or two friends, or two brothers or something. Don't you guys think so?" she asked them.

"Definitely," Liz said.

"She has two friends," Jade said.

"Two friends?" Sirius asked, "You sure?"

"Positive," Jade said. Sirius grinned at her, she grinned back. "What's the next part," Jade asked.

"'I play in five,' I can't get that one for the life of me. The whole riddle is bogus. 'I come in three, I play in five. In the same house I dwell. Listen to me carefully and my love will be revealed.' It doesn't make sense."

"James is a great writer," Liz said, Jade nodded in agreement.

"He's wonderful," Lily said beaming.

"Yeah, yeah cut all that mush. So back to the riddle. What does the second part mean?" The three girls looked at each other and thought. "Don't you know who this chick is?"

"Yes," Jade said, "and she doesn't like being called a chick. Maybe when she does stuff that's funny, she does it in a group of five. Don't you think, Lily?"

Lily nodded, as did Liz.

"Do you have it now, Sirius?" Lily asked him, "Can you work with that?"

"No!" Sirius said. "Is she in the same house as me? Is that what that means, 'in the same house I dwell' she's a Gryffindor?"

"Yes," Jade said, "she's a Gryffindor." They all looked at each other for a while, hoping that Sirius would put it all together, but he didn't.

"My head hurts," Sirius said. Then James came back in, looking very thoughtful. He had three large books in his hands, and his nose was all crinkled up. He didn't notice the four of them seated near the fire place.

"How's the dream interpretation going?" Sirius asked. James turned to see them all sitting comfortably, then shrugged.

"Lousy. I think you're right. Too much polishing solution. So what are you all up to?" he asked, looking at them.

"Trying to crack the riddle that you wrote, you nutcase," Sirius said.

James smiled. "It's really not that hard, you know."

"Nothings hard when you already know the answer, like you all! So we established that she's in Gryffindor, has two other friends, but four when she wants to get a laugh."

"And you still haven't put it all together?" James asked. "How thick can you be? And why," James said, frowning suddenly, "is your arm around my girlfriend?" 

Sirius looked at it, then took it back. "She said she'd help me with the riddle and I got a little excited. I didn't mean anything by it. Remember, I think she's ugly."

"Hey!" she said, moving away from him.

"Don't worry," he said in a loud whisper so James could hear him, "I'm just faking him out so he doesn't know that I was the one you ran away with."

"Okay," she said back.

"Stop now," James said smiling at them. "I think I'm gonna go to bed early. I have killer headache and hardly slept because you woke me up," he said, pointing at Sirius.

"You were the one who couldn't keep your mouth shut in class, James," Lily said.

"I was defending my honor. I hated that guy, I am so glad he's gone. So I'm going up." Sirius got up from the couch and followed him up the stairs.

"I need to ask you something," Sirius said.

"What?" James asked as he opened the seventh year dorm door and went inside.

"It's about the riddle."

"Have you got the answer? Because I will tell you if you're right."

"You will, huh. Is it...?" he shook his head, "No, it can't be."

"Who, Sirius. Just take a stab at it."

"It isn't....Jade is it?" James looked at him and smiled.

"Bingo," James said. But Sirius had an expression that wasn't quite what James had expected.


	16. A 'Terrible Fight'

*** The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn't to be sold, reproduced, or taken as true. The main characters and most locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. No copyright infringement is intended.***  


Note from little old me: sorry if you think this is a cliff hanger. You may ask why I did what I did. Well this is why: I wanted to explore different aspects of the characters and make them real. And also to give Trelawny credibility which she needs. You'll understand when you reach the end. To any new readers: If you want to be part of my mailing list and be notified when I put up a new chapter, leave your email address in a review or just tell me directly at the5thmarauder@msn.com. I am now accepting anonymous reviews. I would like to thank Renee, my editor and fellow Potterite. Thank you so much for helping me with my terrible grammar. And thank you all who read this story.   
  


Part three: 'A Terrible Fight'

"Never make a promise you don't intend to keep."  
James looked closely at Sirius, and tried to remember a time when he had an expression like that before, but there wasn't a time. It was a cross between confusion, disappointment, and shock. James just stared at him, waiting for Sirius to say something. Sirius, however, didn't know what to say.

"What's the matter?" James asked him. Sirius looked up from the ground and looked into James' eyes.

"I don't know; it's just..." he said, then broke off. He put his hands on his face and sat down on the corner of his bed.

"Sirius, I thought you'd be happy about this," James said, sitting on his own bed suddenly not feeling tired anymore.

Sirius didn't say anything for a while, he just sat on his four poster with his face in his hands. James was very disappointed in his reaction and could only imagine what Jade was going to do when she found out about him.

"Talk to me," James said. Sirius looked up, his face lacking any distinguishable emotion.

"I wasn't expecting that. I've never thought of her in that way before, James, and to tell you the truth, I still can't imagine her in that way."

"What do you mean? Sirius, she's a great girl. She's perfect for you."

Sirius shook his head and sighed. "She's my friend, a good friend. I can't have her as a girlfriend, it just seems weird. How long has she felt this way about me?"

"A long while. I still don't see the problem. You're supposed to be friends with someone before you go on to the next level. If you're not, you have nothing to say to each other."

"It's just that I can't picture us together like that. Okay, so my past relationships with girls have been short, but I don't see myself dating Jade. I like her a lot, she's a great person, but..." he shook his head again.

"Come on. She's pretty, she's smart, she's nice and she thinks you're great. How can you not want that? This is your chance to have something that is really worth having. She cares for you deeply, Sirius. And I for one don't believe that you feel nothing for her, after your little stunt against Dominic last year. You got jealous so you fought him."

"What?" Sirius asked confused. "That is called being a protective friend, not a want-to-be boyfriend. I don't want this James, I can't think of another way to say it."

James stared at him and waited for Sirius to say, "GOTCHA!" but those words were never uttered.

"Well I honestly thought you would be happy with her. She seems like your type, the kind of girl that you should be with, the kind of girl you have been looking for."

"She's not."

"Well at least think about it for a bit. It's sudden, maybe it'll ease into you as time goes on."

"I don't think so, James. I like her as a friend, nothing more. Will you tell her that?" Sirius asked.

"Me?" James asked surprised. "I'm not going to be the bearer of bad news. This is your deal. You break her heart; I'll have no part in it; don't even mention my name; don't even mention a letter of my name; don't even bring up anything that can be associated with my name or my person. I still think she's the one for you, and I'll be damned if I'm wrong. Just think it over for just a few days so that you can get used to the idea. Alright? Just a few days, that's it." 

Just then, Remus walked into the room with books in his hand. He looked at the two of them and smiled at first then quickly frowned when he saw their faces.

"You two look like someone just died. Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Sirius doesn't want Jade," James said. Remus looked shocked at the idea, just as James did.

"She's perfect for you," Remus said.

"That's what I told him."

"What are you going to tell her?" Remus asked.

"That we're better off as friends, I guess. There's really nothing more to say. Gosh, I really wish I didn't feel like this."

James got an idea. He walked over to Sirius's trunk, and pulled out the Marauder's map.

"Let's go to The Three Broomsticks, that always makes the day go better. Come on, Sirius. Do you want to come, Remus?" James asked, as he threw on his cloak and stuffed the map in his pocket.

"No, I'm going to study with Liz. Then maybe, um..." James smirked. 

"I'll leave the cloak?" James asked. Remus smiled shyly.

"She doesn't know about the cloak. Shouldn't we keep that secret?"

"Lily knows about the cloak, and that means Jade and Liz have known as long as she has. Just take it if you want."

Remus nodded gratefully. Sirius got up, put on his cloak, and followed James out of the door.

"Where are you two going?" Lily asked.

"Just for a walk to talk about..."

"Quidditch tryouts," Sirius said.

"Yes, yes. Quidditch tryouts. We'll be back in a few. Ta-ta.," James said as he headed for the door and walked out into the empty corridor.

"You think she suspects us?" Sirius asked.

"Lily? Duh. Okay, let's see here," James said, pulling out the map. "I solemnly sear I am up to no good," James rehearsed as he tapped the map. Instantly tiny lines wove themselves into a complex representation of the Hogwarts castle. 

"Charms corridor...Damn it! The one time we want to go out there and Snape is kissing up to some teacher. What a prat. We should've taken the cloak and pantsed him."

James laughed at this but looked for another route. "How about through the armor and we run there?"

"Okay. I still think we should pants Snape though, for the record."

"Record noted. Let's go."

They walked to the suit of armor that guarded one of the seven tunnels that led out of Hogwarts. It was still daylight, so they transformed into Padfoot and Prongs and raced to the outskirts of Hogsmeade. 

"Ha!" James said as he transformed back into himself. "I beat you, again." Sirius growled at him then transformed back into himself.

"It's only because your legs are longer than mine."

"No, it's just because I am faster than you are, Sirius."

"Oh yeah? Race you to the Three Broomsticks!"

"Don't be so immature," James said as he walked towards the village. "On the count of three?"

"One," Sirius started, getting into position, "two," James leaned forward, "THREE!" They burst with speed as they ran to the village, each laughing at how stupid they were both being but having a good time while doing it.

"Excuse me!" James yelled to a group of elderly women as he bolted through them. "Watch out, coming through!" he yelled to more people.

"The young people these days," he heard a woman say as he nearly collided into her.

Sirius was in a slight lead and turned around to laugh at James when he slipped in some mud and fell flat on his rear. James laughed loudly at him, then went over to give him a hand.

"I would have beat you if that mud hadn't have been there," Sirius said as he examined his backside which was covered in thick mud. "Damn. Now what am I going to do?"

"Turn around; I can fix it," James said, though still sniggering as his mind played Sirius's flying into the air and smacking into the ground over and over again. He pulled out his wand and did a simple little spell which made the mud vanish.

"Thanks," Sirius said. They walked the rest of the way to the Three Broomsticks, still arguing over who won the second race. But the conversation stopped when they opened the door and walked in. It was quite busy, which wasn't really surprising, as it was five. All the tables were taken and the bar was completely filled.

"So I guess we just stand then?" Sirius asked.

"I guess. Maybe we can move someone," James suggested.

"Okay. I'll give you five galleons if you can get that group of goblins to move out," Sirius said, pointing to a table in the corner.

"Gross," James said. They were quite hideous, he thought. But what could he lose? "Five Galleons?" he asked.

"Yep, it's all in my pocket. Get them to move."

"Okay," James said, smiling confidently. He walked over to the table and smiled at the five ugly goblins, which upon closer inspection appeared to be young girls. Ugly ones, but girls nevertheless.

"Good evening ladies," James said smiling, they all frowned. "I was wondering if you could be so kind as to move so that my friend and I can sit here." They weren't very receptive to this. Instead of getting up and leaving, or just saying, "No," they picked up their drinks and splashed him in the face. Then, he only assumed because he didn't really understand them, they started talking quickly and violently at him. Then they started to make obscene gestures with their hands, which scared him, so he backed away silently.

Sirius, on the other hand, thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen in his entire life. He was laughing so hard he was crying and his face was beet red.

"Laugh it up, mud man. So they didn't want to move, big deal. We'll just wait for two seats."

"They wanted blood," Sirius said.

"Well, well, well. Look who came to see me," a pretty young woman said.

"Rosie!" they both yelled as they hugged her.

"It's been too long. You guys need to bust out of the castle more often."

"Yeah, we would but James has a rule abiding girlfriend. But I still love you, Rosie. I want to run away with you." She smiled and looked back at all the tables.

"Let me see where I can sit you two, I'll be back." She walked over to behind the bar and magicked two bar stools and put them at the end of the bar. James and Sirius went down to them and sat down.

"So how have things been?" James asked her.

"Busy," she said. She poured them two large mugs of butterbeer and slid them down the bar to James and Sirius. "Business is booming at the beginning of the year. Don't ask me why. What about you two? What kind of trouble have you been in?"

"Trouble?" Sirius asked, "Us? Never. I haven't gotten a detention for a whole year. Terrible isn't it? We did jinx the mirrors in all the girls' bathrooms, though, last Christmas."

"I thought that was your work. I remember hearing Professor McGonnagal complaining about that. Apparently it caused quite a lot of tension and unease."

"That was us," James said smiling.

"So how does it feel not being underage anymore?" She asked as she piled drinks onto a tray.

"Free," they both replied. She smiled and left them as she delivered the drinks to her waiting customers.

"I love her," Sirius said. James rolled his eyes. "I love her as-a-friend, James, not marriage material."

"I still think-"

"I know, Jade is the one, but I don't think so."

"Why the hell not?" James asked, "Give me one good reason."

"One good reason, alright. I like being good friends. I don't want to complicate things, and that's how I want it to be. Now stop pestering me. Let's talk about Quidditch tryouts." Sirius sounded very final on the matter, so James did stop asking him about Jade. And they did need to talk about Quidditch, they needed to talk about it badly.

The question was, "Who would be Slytherin's new captain?" They also needed to replace a beater, "who would that be?" Sure, it doesn't sound like such a big deal, but you would be surprised. James and Sirius had loved the sport since they could walk, much of which was their fathers' faults, but they were still obsessed with it. Gryffindor hadn't lost a match for over five years, since James had joined the team, and he wasn't going to lose in his final year.

The two spent hours, yes, hours talking about new strategies: how to train the new seeker, how to find out about Slytherin's new captain, and new equipment that they were in dire need of. By the time they finished, it was nightfall.

"So, we hold three sessions, one centering on maneuverability, the other on speed, then the last is a match, yes?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, I think that's best. We need a really good seeker this year. The sooner they catch the snitch, the better."

When they reached the outskirts of the forest, they both transformed and ran to the castle. Prongs reached the passage entrance first then00 Padfoot. Once back in human form, they continued to talk about Quidditch and were so enthralled they forgot to check the Marauder's map for solicitors. 

They were almost to the tower, just a few more flights of stairs, when one sound made them quiver. 

"Meow." James and Sirius whipped around and pulled out the map. James took his wand and placed it on the map, ready to open it and see where Filch was, but there was no need.

"So," they heard his greasy voice say from behind them, "Black and Potter too good for the school rules, eh?" James tried so hard to put the map in his pocket without Filch noticing, but didn't succeed. Filch snatched it out of his hands when he came around to face them.

"What's this?" Filch asked, his ugly eyes sparkling with malice.

"Just some parchment. For notes and things," James said calmly with no trace of alarm. Filch gazed into James's eyes, looking for truth.

"So then you wouldn't mind if I took it?"

This was the time to use reverse psychology.

"You could, but I don't think you really want it," James said coolly. Filch grinned.

"And why is that?" he asked.

"Because I sneezed on it," Sirius said quickly. "Oh sure, it doesn't look used, but be warned. I have a very rare strain of the Bohemian flu, and I blew all of my snot on that parchment. We wouldn't want you to be sick, would we James?" Sirius asked with a huge grin.

"Oh no. What would Hogwarts do without you, sir? But if you really want the parchment so bad, please by all means."

"We can always get another one," Sirius pointed out. "It's more durable than tissue so it'll last longer, for more blows."

James was finding it increasingly difficult to keep a straight face, but he had to.

"Just where were the two of you coming from?" Filch asked, pocketing the map. This was a major disaster.

"Dinner, in the Great Hall," James said quickly, Sirius nodded. 

"It's ten o'clock. Dinner hasn't been served for over an hour," Filch said grinning. James and Sirius tried to look like they already knew this, and quickly thought of a new answer.

"Well," Sirius said, "we had dinner over an hour ago, but we went up to the library to study."

"Study what?" Filch asked.

"Transfiguration," James said. Sirius nodded.

"What about it?" Why was Filch asking all of these questions!

"Anamagi," Sirius said. "We were looking up the registry because we were interested in how many there are."

"Yes, and there aren't very many, sir. Must be really tricky stuff. Huh, Sirius?"

"Oh yeah, tough work." James and Sirius crossed their fingers inside their robes, hoping Filch would give back the map and let them go. Filch remained thoughtful and silent as he watched the two of them squirm.

"What if I told you, Aragorna Syphily spotted two juveniles running through the village of Hogsmeade at about five. One of them tall with black hair and glasses, the other tall with black hair and clumsy. What would you say to that?"

The both kept quiet, but only because they were thinking of what to say; they wouldn't go without a fight.

"What a coincidence. I mean, how many guys look like us? Geeze, that must have been really cool to have seen, you know?" Sirius asked. But the gig was up.

"Try detention, Mr. Black. This weekend. It'll be the three of us, again, in the Great Hall. Then cleaning some of the more nastier aspects of the school. As for your parchment, I will be keeping that. Nighty night," he said, then left.

It happens very rarely when two people ever have the exact same thought. You could even say it never happens, especially at the same time. But that evening at ten o'clock, on the staircase in Hogwarts castle, the second day of school, September 1977 James Potter and Sirius Black thought the very exact thing: Filch dangling from the ceiling and hanging over a pit of lava. And he was screaming. He was screaming loudly. Not even his little cat could save him. 

"I hate that man, I hate that man, I hate that man!" James said as he stomped up the remaining stairs. "He took our map. He took our map! Our MAP!" James said with anger as he shook Sirius's shoulders.

"We'll just have to steal it back, that's all. We'll use the cloak to snatch it."

"I hope we can. God, our map! We spent so many weeks making it, perfecting it, adding all the special features. Remember when it was just a drawing?" James reminisced. He sounded like he was talking about a baby.

"Yeah, you'd have never known it would have been so big and strong," Sirius said. "I'm going to miss that map. We have to get her back!"

"Yes, let's go now!"

"We can't go now. Let's just go back to the tower and think about how we're going to get it."

"I want to kick him hard!" James yelled. Sirius grabbed him by the back of the shirt and pulled him all the way to the tower.

"Quarante," Sirius said when they came to the portrait of the Fat Lady. He pulled James inside, who was still cursing Filch, and met two very unlikely students who were waiting for them.

"Where were the two of you?" Lily asked, her arms crossed.

"Just when you think the day can't possibly get worse, this happens," Sirius said as he looked at Lily and Jade's disgruntled expressions.

"We were out," James said casually. 

"Out where?" Lily asked.

"Out of the tower, talking about Quidditch. We left because we know that you hate hearing about it."

"Where did you go?" she asked more forcefully.

"Why does that matter?" James asked, also more forcefully.

"Excuse me? It matters because I want to know where you were. You left at five, and it's," she looked quickly at her watch, "ten now. You were out of the castle, James, I know you were. Now tell me, where did you go?"

James glared at her, Jade was looking at Sirius, who avoided her eyes. "Hogsmeade," James said.

"What?" she asked.

"You heard me," James said.

"Don't talk to me like that!" Lily shouted at him. 

Sirius stepped in between them and signaled for them to silence. "This needs to stop. Lily, we went to Hogsmeade to discuss many things. We've been sneaking out of the castle for years now to do just what we did tonight. If it makes you feel any better, Filch just gave us a very lengthy detention for our actions. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go to bed and won't be here to play referee, so you two do whatever you need to do so you won't take each other's heads off. Goodnight." Sirius walked out from in between the two of them and started for the stairs. He looked back at James and saw he was staring at Lily. Jade also went for the stairs and caught up with Sirius very quickly. Sirius didn't really want to talk to her so he tried to pick up the pace.

"Did you get any answers for the riddle, yet?" she asked timidly. Sirius closed his eyes and thought about it. Should he tell her the truth? Tell her he didn't want a relationship? Or just say he hadn't figured it out yet?

"Um," he said, twisting the knob for the door, "Not exactly, but nearly. I have narrowed it down. I should have it in a few days or so." He saw that she looked slightly disappointed, and he tried to imagine what she would look like when he told her the truth.

"Oh," she said. "If you need anymore help," she broke off and twisted her fingers nervously, then went into her dorm.

"You're going to break her heart," Sirius whispered to himself solemnly. He opened his door and walked inside to go to bed.

Downstairs, James and Lily were still staring at each other. She was waiting for him to apologize and he was waiting for her to apologize. Neither of them said anything for several minutes, but just looked at each other.

James was the first to speak. "Sirius doesn't want to date Jade. We left to talk about that so she wouldn't hear."

Lily looked shocked, "What?"

"I know. I think he feels badly about it, but that's how he feels. I don't know what to say. I kept telling him to think about it, but he says he doesn't want that."

"Is he going to tell her?" she asked.

"I think so. I still think he's being crazy."

"Oh my gosh. She's going to be heartbroken." James nodded in agreement and looked down at his feet. "This is terrible. When is he going to tell her?"

"I don't know. Probably sooner than we think. I feel terrible about it," James said truthfully. Lily looked at him sympathetically and went to hug him.

* * * * *

It was actually a week later, after this incident, when all the excitement really began. It all started with a simple statement Remus had to tell James.

"James!" Remus said running down a corridor very excited. "I know who it is, I know who's captain for Slytherin. I heard them all talking about it." James and Sirius stopped breathing they were so excited.

"Well, who is it?" James asked. Lily, Liz and Jade all rolled their eyes and continued on to class.

"The seeker, Jake Ballard," Remus said. James and Sirius exchanged surprised looks.

"Ballard? I expected Greene, not Ballard. Are you sure?" James asked.

"Positive. I just heard them saying that they held a vote in Slytherin and Jake won. I don't know who the new beater is, though, but Ballard is the new captain."

"This changes everything," Sirius said to James. "We don't know anything about Ballard."

"Other than he's a great Jackass?" James asked with sarcasm.

"Well, yeah other than that."

"We need to hold tryouts for the new seeker and reserves. We need to post a flyer or make a house wide announcement. This weekend, we should hold it, then on Monday. What do you think, Sirius?"

"I'm with you."

That afternoon, James and Sirius as well as the other four players, sat down and discussed Jake Ballard. What were his tactics, his personality, his experience? They knew that he had played since his third year, and he was now in his sixth. He had only two years experience, so why did they pick him?

"You think he bribed them?" Sam Moore asked.

"I have no idea what went on," James said, "but we need to...watch them carefully, if you know what I mean. Sirius and I have posted a note asking for anyone with talent to go out for seeker. Hopefully we'll get someone good. In the meantime, practice has now commenced. I want all of you out there whenever you can and practice like your life depends on it."

They all nodded their heads in compliance and broke off. James ran upstairs, went under his bed and removed the floorboard to take out the secret weapon: a complex play book. No one knew, except Sirius of course, that he closely documented every game he saw, even if Gryffindor wasn't playing. He had written down maneuvers he had seen, and maneuvers he had dreamt or thought of. He pulled the book out, sat on his bed and drew the curtains around him.

It was a very thick and heavy leather bound book with the Gryffindor shield painted on the front. He opened it and looked inside. His name was written sloppily on the inside cover for he had started it when he was eleven, and there was a photo of him and Sirius that his parents had taken before they got onto the train on their very first day. He flipped through the pages until he got to his fifth year, a tough year. It was the year he was elected captain, and he realized just how hard it was.

But there were some excellent plays that the Slytherin team had, so he copied them down. He didn't mind using the Slytherin tactics against them because he knew they stole them from someone else. 

"James," Sirius said, "you looking at the book?" he asked as he pulled back James's curtains.

"Yeah, looking for some things we can do to win. I can't lose in my last year. I won't stand for it. I just keep worrying about the new seeker. What if they can't catch the snitch, what if we can't score, why do I think all of this? I need to relax. You know, I think I'd feel better if I knew I still had the map in my trunk, but damn Filch. Gosh I hate him. I want it back. Anyway, I'm looking at Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff two years ago."

"Oh, yeah. That was a harsh match. I was thinking we should get on the training for the new seeker, you know? I mean the game is on their shoulders, not ours. I'm glad I'm not seeker, way too much pressure."

Tryouts were held a day later. It seemed like everyone in Gryffindor wanted to go out for it. James had conveyed, however, that winning meant everything to him, and he wanted someone that could win.

"You are all here because you won't let Slytherin have the benefit of beating us. Practices are going to be long, hard, and daily from now until we slaughter them. If you can't handle that, then leave. First we're going to test your speed, then your skill, and lastly, if you make it to the third day, we're going to put you in a match. Is that clear?" James asked his team and possible potentials.

They all nodded, mounted their brooms, and took to the skies. Practice had commenced. Mostly James and Sirius told the seeker possibles what to do, but the other players chimed in. Sam Moore, the other beater, was quite vocal about the whole thing and narrated each move that each player made with commentary.

"Well, that about stunk to high heaven," he said to a fourth year who attempted a sharp dive and hit the ground. "Anyone could have done that. I could have done that."

Other seekers left early because they were being asked for the impossible. "If you could dive, then loop up just before you touch the ground, then zag around the post, that would be awesome," James said to a group, who stared at him and left.

By day two, the group was down by half. And by day three, only ten remained. They were the best ten, and James was grateful he had ten to chose from. Amanda Davies, a second year, seemed to be by far one of the best he had seen. She was the perfect size, small and light, and she had an excellent eye.

James sent the ten to practice more with the rest of the team, and he watched her. She was the best, he thought.

He blew the whistle and called for the team to come down. "So what do you guys think?" he asked his five players.

"Davies is good," they all seemed to say.

"Alright. Can I have the ten of you land please!" he yelled up to them. Once they landed, their nerves kicked in.

"This is what we're going to do. We have decided who the new seeker is, but we'll write to each of you that didn't make it with reasons why. The person that did make it will also be informed by letter tomorrow. Thank you all for your time."

They each walked away worried. The rest of the team walked back up to the tower to write letters to those who lost.

"How did it go?" Lily asked. 

"Fine, we got a winner."

"That's good. So you're done with it for a while?" she asked smiling with her arms on his shoulders.

"No, I'm not done. I've got to write out letters of rejection, and then the five of us are going go over the training schedule and what we're going to do with her."

"Oh," she said, retracting her arms. She walked away and sat with Jade and Liz who were doing homework. But James thought nothing of it and went over to do more Quidditch.

It was ten o'clock when the six of them finished their training agenda for Amanda, came up with five more plays, and discussed Jake Ballard's training of Slytherin, whom they spied on. Then James and Sirius suddenly remembered they had homework for Gellar and McGonnagal which had to be completed.

It was about twelve when James and Sirius finished and headed for their dorm. Perhaps it was because he was tired, or because he was only thinking about how to beat Slytherin in the long awaited match, but James didn't seem to notice that Lily had fallen asleep in a chair in the common room. She was waiting for him.

The next morning, ten school owls flew into the hall and dropped letters to the seeker hopefuls. James didn't want to look at the nine that he knew didn't make it, so he concentrated on his book, 'Quidditch Through the Ages.' He couldn't block out the sounds, though, of disappointed gasps, and one cry of excitement.

"Who got it?" Cara Lanigan asked, trying to sound cheerful.

"I did!" Amanda Davies cheered as she ran to James. "Thank you so much!" she said as she hugged him tighter than he would have liked.

"Congratulations. We're having practice this afternoon, Amanda. Be out there as soon as you can," he said. Sirius smiled at her and then she ran to all of her friends.

"You're having practice again?" Lily asked when she sat across from him.

"Yeah, we have to. We have to win this year."

"You have to win every year," she said frowning.

"Yeah, but this is my last year. Slytherin's a tough team; we have to work hard." Lily looked at him sternly, but didn't respond. Instead she pulled out a book and began to read. James went back to discussing Quidditch tactics with Sirius and Sam Moore until the bell rang for Transfiguration.

Much was the same in between and after classes. James and Sirius would run down to the pitch, change into their Quidditch attire, and practice until night would fall. James was feeling confident that they would win, but he didn't want to take any chances. After it was too dark, they would all go inside and look at James's no longer secret play book and go over plays and various moves. The seven of them would sit at a round table in the corner of the common room and whisper.

"How long is this going to go on?" Jade asked.

"Hopefully not much longer," Liz said. "James even has Remus spying on Slytherin and watching them practice so he can tell them what they're doing. I hardly see him anymore."

"I wonder what Sirius has to say," Jade said.

"What do you mean?" Liz asked.

"Well, do you think he figured it out? Or has he been too busy with that sport of his?"

"I hate this," Liz said.

"Me too," Jade replied. Lily didn't say anything. She just looked at James talking to his team. He was so enthusiastic about it, like he was a general commanding his troops right before a battle.

"He hasn't talked to me in so long," Lily said. Liz and Jade watched her for a while, worried about what she might say. Instead of opening her mouth though, she got up and walked over to James, put her arms around his neck and leaned her head on his.

He was talking about a Wronski Feint to Amanda, using his hands to demonstrate. It took him a minute to notice that Lily was even there.

"Hi," he said looking up at her.

"Hi," she smiled back. "When are you going to finish with this?" she asked.

"Not for a while. We're real busy. Why?" he asked with a serious face. Lily gave him a peculiar smile.

"No reason," she said.

James smiled, "Okay then. So what you're going to do is dive," he said to Amanda. Lily stepped back away from James, glared at the back of his head, and walked out of the common room. Liz and Jade followed.

"Where are you going?" they both asked her.

"Library. I need to get a new book."

"We shouldn't be out now, it's late," Jade said.

"I don't really care," Lily replied. "I'm sick of being ignored by someone that says he loves me. I shouldn't be reading all of these books."

"Are you going to tell him?" Liz asked.

"And when am I supposed to do that? He's always talking about that stupid sport. I wish I could get his attention. He hardly notices me." Liz and Jade agreed with her. Lily's opportunity, though, came sooner than she expected.

They got to the library and went to the section on charms, Lily's best subject. But they were not alone there.

"Miss Evans," a deep voice said from behind a stack of books. The three of them turned to see who it was. Lily smiled weakly.

"Hello, Severus. How are you?"

"Fine," he smiled. Liz and Jade looked at Lily cautiously.

"What are you doing here?" she asked brightly.

"Oh," he seemed very nervous, "I'm getting books on charms. I need improvement. What about you, Miss Evans?"

Lily smiled. "You can call me Lily, you know. I was also getting a charms book. What a small world, eh?"

Liz and Jade still hadn't said anything, but smiled when they knew what Lily was up too.

"You're so good at it, though," Severus said, still smiling at her.

"Well, I don't know about that. I've just been bored lately, so I'm using my extra time wisely by learning more."

Snape looked like someone had told him he inherited a fortune. "You've been bored?" he asked. "What about Potter?" he tried not to sound vile.

"Oh, he's been working on Quidditch for the past few weeks. Nonstop. It's really quite tiring." She pulled out a book, then another but kept watching him. Liz and Jade backed up to let them talk, but not so far that they couldn't hear what was going on. 

"Lily," he smiled, "Could I ask you something?"

"You have a very nice smile, Severus, you should use it more often. What's your question?"

Snape got more confident and leaned on the book shelf. "I was wondering, I mean if it wouldn't be much trouble that is, if you could maybe...tutor me in Charms. Whenever you wanted, I don't want to interfere with anything."

Lily looked at him thoughtfully. Jade and Liz stepped forward to stop her from saying yes.

"Lily, it's late, we've got to go before Filch finds us," Liz insisted. But Lily didn't move.

"Sure," she said slowly, with a kind smile. "Meet me here in the Library every afternoon, and bring your books, of course."

Severus smiled in a way none of them had ever seen before. "I'll be here, Lily."

"Good. See you then. Goodnight," and she let Liz and Jade drag her away towards the tower.

"Are you insane?" Jade asked her, "James can't stand Snape. It's one thing to talk to him, but tutoring? You're going behind his back!"

"I am not. I tutor tons of people. So this time it's James's archenemy, oh well. Maybe I wouldn't spend time with Severus if James actually paid attention to me."

"So that's why you're doing this?" Jade asked.

"I guess," Lily said. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I just don't want to use Severus to get to him. Well, I shouldn't have to use anyone to get my fiancé's attention, now should I?" she asked them.

"No," they said, "you shouldn't. But he's going to be really mad when he finds out, Lily. He's going to be really mad."

But James was so caught up in the coming Quidditch match, he didn't even hear word of what was going on in the library every afternoon. And there was a reason for that. Slytherins were known for their ambition and thirst for great power, but they were much more than that. Slytherins were also very cunning and sly. Snape, being so overcome with joy, told his friends about his new arrangement with Lily. It was overheard, however, by Jake Ballard himself.

Jake thought to himself; why was he practicing so hard when the prize was already in the basket? Certainly Potter would be devastated to find out that the woman he bestowed his love upon was secretly meeting with Snape, Potter's enemy. Well maybe they weren't meeting secretly, at least not yet. Once Jake heard the wonderful news, he persuaded Snape to only meet with Lily in the evenings and in a quiet non-inhabited section of the library as to arouse suspicion when the news did break.

Snape was only too happy to comply. James Potter would be hit hard twice: the loss of Lily and the horrible defeat that Slytherin would give him. As such, Jake Ballard eased practices considerably from five a week to two a week. 

"If all goes to plan," Jake said to his team, "the practices will have been in vain. He won't be able to stand, much less throw the Quaffle when he finds out about her. As for the snitch, they actually believe a stupid second year girl can grab it, instead of me. The arrogance!" The Slytherin team laughed with the taste of a win on their tongues.

Jade, like Lily, was tired of waiting. She tried to talk to Sirius on a number of occasions, but he seemed to be either avoiding her or was too busy with Quidditch to notice her. But she caught him one night when he was coming back from practice.

"Sirius," she said when he came through the portrait hole. He froze when he saw her, but couldn't go back.

"Jade," he said nervously, "how are you?"

"Good. Listen, I was wondering if you had figured that riddle out yet."

Sirius took her hands and looked down at them. "Yes, I have."

"Really?" she asked smiling at him.

"Yeah," he said softly. He really didn't want to tell her, to break her heart like he knew he would.

"And..." she said, still smiling.

"And," he started still clutching her hands, "I think we would be better as friends."

She dropped her smile and looked down at the ground then back up at him.

"I really like you a lot, Jade, but as a friend. You're a really great friend and I don't want to jeopardize that. You understand, right?" he asked.

She withdrew her hands and with all the strength that she had, she smiled. "Yeah," she said silently, "I understand. I have to be going to bed now. I'll see you around."

"Jade," he said reaching for her, "I'm so sorry. I just can't help the way I feel. Please don't hate me for this."

She fought to keep the tears in her eyes when she looked at him. "I can't help the way I feel either, Sirius. And right now I don't feel so good. I've just been told that the man I love doesn't love me back."

Sirius reached for her, put his arms around her and kissed her cheek then held her tightly. She put her arms on his shoulders as one tear rolled down her cheek. She didn't want to let go of him, but pushed him away, hiding her eyes, and walked upstairs to her dorm. 

Lily and Liz were sitting and studying potions on Lily's bed. They both looked to see who came in, then jumped up and ran when they saw it was Jade in tears.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked.

"He doesn't want me," she said, "He doesn't want me." Lily and Liz hugged her.

"He's crazy not to want you," Liz said, "You're too good for him."

"I really hate men," Jade cried.

"No you don't," Lily said, "He's just dense and doesn't know what's best for him. That's not his fault. His just been around James too long; it probably sunk in."

"I don't think the fight's over, Jade," Liz said.

"I don't think it is either," Lily said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Liz said taking a tissue and wiping away Jade's tears, "Sirius is the type of guy that girls fawn over. He enters a room and they all faint because he is so good looking, right?"

"I guess," she said.

"So ignore him," Liz said. Jade looked confused.

"Ignore him?"

"Oh, I get it," Lily said, "He'll want the girl he can't have and that's you. Just ignore him completely and he'll want you like crazy."

"That's right," Liz said.

"What about James?" Jade asked.

"What about him? He's in a different solar system. He revolves around the planet Quafneff."

"It's 'Quaffle' Lily," Jade corrected her.

"Whatever. I think he's.....well....I don't know what's wrong with him. But Snape's starting to get a little more comfortable with the situation. I just hope James comes to rescue me soon. And on a white horse, not a damn broomstick."

"As soon as he hears the words 'Snape and Lily' his ears will prick right up!" Liz said laughing, and Jade, who knew she had the greatest friends in the world, smiled.

* * * * *

The day was November first. It was a nice day outside; the sun was shining and the birds were singing. Both excitement and tensions began to rise as the coming match of Gryffindor vs. Slytherin was just four days away. But something loomed in the air, no one could put their finger on it, but something big was going to happen.

The only sad thing was that James and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team had no idea that an ominous breeze was sweeping through the castle, like all the other student's sensed. No, the morning for them was just like any other morning where they prayed for a victory in the coming Saturday. Perhaps the only difference was that Sirius began to notice a difference in Jade's behavior which he found to be very disturbing. She used to always greet him the morning, but now she didn't even look at him.

"Hey," Sirius said elbowing James in the ribs.

"What?" James asked as he was looking at photographs of last year's games.

"You think Jade hates my guts?" Sirius asked.

"Well," James said, though not taking his eyes off the pictures, "you did break her heart. What did you expect? You think things are going to be normal from now on?"

"Well, yeah. I don't like this new thing. I just don't get women. You know for a while I thought I actually understood how their minds worked, but now? I have no idea. Maybe one of you could find out what's going on."

"Sirius, I'm a little busy right now, talk to Remus about it." Sirius rolled his eyes and took the pictures out of James's hands.

"There is more to life that Quidditch, James," Sirius said, "You've been at this for over a month. Give it a rest, we're going to win."

"I know," James said grabbing the pictures back. Sirius got up from the table and pulled James up by his shirt collar. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"The bell rang, it's time to go to class."

"Let go of me," James said.

"No, we're going to class. Leave the pictures behind. We're going to win James." On the way to class, the two passed Snape and Jake Ballard who were in a heavy discussion until they saw James.

They both smiled maliciously at James and stepped in his way.

"Move," James said.

"So, the match this Saturday, eh Potter?" Ballard asked. James smirked and tried to go around the two of them but they moved.

"Ballard, you're going to lose, just admit that. You've slacked off on your team and I haven't," James said.

"No, you're right there. But we have something better, don't we Severus?" Ballard asked. Snape smiled cruelly.

"Yes we do. We'll see you around, Potter," Snape said as he passed him by.

"I hate Slytherins," James told Sirius. The continued on to class when they heard Snape yelling behind them.

"Hey Potter!" Snape called, "Say hello to Lily for me!" James started for him, but Sirius held him back.

"You stay away from her!" James yelled, but Snape grinned. "I'm going to kill him," James said to Sirius.

"He's just jerking your chain, he's trying to throw you off so you'll lose this Saturday. Just sit down and relax," Sirius said. But James couldn't help but worry about what Ballard and Snape had said. It suddenly seemed very peculiar that the Slytherin practices were only twice a week, yet they were so confident. James played out many different scenarios in his mind, but nothing fit. He just couldn't figure it out. And what did Snape mean by his cute little remark? 'Say hello to Lily for me' what was that all about? Maybe Sirius was right. Snape knew all of James's buttons, Lily being the biggest. He decided not to worry about it.

After History of Magic, James and Sirius joined the rest of the team for a quick practice down on the field. It was as routine as the rest. Sam and Sirius kept pounding bludgers at each other, Chris, James, and Brian passed the Quaffle back and fourth, and Amanda was catching the snitch that Casey would release. It was a very laid back practice and highly uneventful until Sirius spotted Remus running down from the castle and onto the field.

"James!" Remus yelled.

"What?" James yelled back.

"Come down here, now! I have something important to tell you!" James tossed the Quaffle to Chris and flew down to meet Remus.

"What's up?" he asked. Remus hesitated.

"Don't kill the messenger, James," Remus requested as he took a deep breath.

"Why would I do that?" James crossed his arms and raised his eye brows.

"Because you're not going to like what I am about to tell you."

"I'm listening," James said. Then the rest of the team, having read the tense body language, flew down to where James was.

"I saw...there has to be a good explanation for it, there just has to be," Remus said.

"What did you see?" James asked.

"I saw Lily, James. I saw her with Snape in the library. They were talking about charms, I think. It looked as though she was teaching him something."

At first Remus thought James took it rather well, but that soon changed. James remained silent but his face grew cherry red with anger. He clenched his fists and Remus and the six other Quidditch players clearly saw a vein pulsating in James's neck. 

"You saw what?" he asked through gritted teeth. 

"I saw Lily with Snape, in the library." James threw down his broom and marched up to the castle, cursing with rage on his way.

"There's got to be an explanation for it," Sirius said to him. But James wasn't listening. He could only hear the drums beating loudly in his ears. He could only see Snape laughing as he held Lily in his arms. All he wanted to do was pound Snape into the ground. James marched into the castle, followed by the rest of the team and Remus, and stormed up to the library. Everyone in the library turned to look at him. James walked, not quietly, through the entire room, checking all isle ways and sections but found neither Snape nor Lily. 

"She's probably in the common room now," Remus said. James turned around and left. He stomped down the stairs, stomped to the common room and yelled at the portrait of the fat lady.

"QUARANTE!" he yelled. He could never remember a time when he was so angry. The fat lady looked rather offended and swung open.

James advanced into the common room, indignation carousing through his veins. Lily was smiling and laughing with her friends, which really vexed him. The room grew eerily silent as everyone turned their attention to James, who was so irate his eyes were bloodshot.

Lily turned to see him, but did not smile. "What's wrong?" she asked moving closer to him.

This only worsened James's emotions. "What's wrong?" he asked, "What's WRONG?" he yelled. "How can you not know what's wrong? How can you do what you did? What, you think I wouldn't find out that you were secretly meeting Snape for a little romance in the library? Did you think I was stupid? WELL I"M NOT! HOW COULD YOU? How could you do this to me? Was it easy stabbing me in the back like that?" The entire common room was in awe. Lily also rose to anger.

"Stabbing you in the back? I stabbed you in the back? Oh look who's talking," she said crossing her arms.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he yelled at her.

"What do you think it means? You were the one that turned your back on me, you selfish pig!"

The common room gasped with shock.

"How can I have possibly done worse than you? You know how much I hate Snape, and you, you spent time with my enemy! What kind of person does that make you?"

"I was helping him! He asked me for my help when I went up to the library to get a new book because I had to read all the time because you didn't give a rat's ass about me! I am not a jacket in your closet that can be used at your leisure."

"You liar! If you were helping him then why didn't you tell me? Why didn't anyone else know about it until today, huh?"

"Perhaps it's because you're so self involved you can't even see the light of day!"

"Self involved? You were the one cheating on me with Snape! And you call me self involved? How dare you!" James yelled.

Remus looked at Sirius in amazement, "Shouldn't you intervene, Sirius?" he asked.

But Sirius shook his head as he watched James and Lily yell at each other, "There's no way I'm getting in the middle of that."

"Cheating! I was not cheating on you! I wouldn't have spent so much time with Snape if you weren't married to your stupid sport!"

"You know how important Quidditch is to me, I can't lose, I can't let this team down. How can you ask me to quit something I love?"

"I didn't! God forbid I ask you to stop chasing a stupid red ball. No one cares about it James. Just you and you're immature friends. Just grow up already," her face was now as red as his.

"I am so sick of you telling me what to do. You're not the boss of me. Leave me alone!"

"Well I am sick and tired of you running around like you own the school. Talking to your elders with no respect, breaking the rules because you think your above them. You act like a god! When are you just going to get over yourself and realize you're just another student?" 

James stared at her. She had said the same words Snape had said to him last year. It deeply wounded him and all he thought of were words to say to her, to make her feel the same way.

"At least I don't think I am smarter than everyone in the world. You think just because they gave you a stupid silver badge that you have absolute power over everyone and everything? Do you know how stupid you look when you walk around like a Queen telling everyone what you know, like you know everything. No one cares, Lily. You only wanted it to make your parents proud of you, to push your sister down. You always have to be on top, don't you? Always have to be the best and Hell will freeze over the day you admit you're wrong. Open your eyes, you're not that great."

Lily looked ready to cry, but he didn't say anything to take back what he had said. He just stared into her eyes, determined to stand his ground.

Lily pulled off James's ring and unlatched his necklace in a flurry then held them out for him to take. "Here," she said in a spooky calm.

"I gave those to you," he said back.

"I know. I don't want them anymore. I don't want you anymore either. You break your promises too easily. You said you'd spend more time with me than with Quidditch, well you lied. And it was so easy for you. I don't want to see you again. Take back your gifts, because I don't want them."

He took a deep breath and shouted at her, "I don't want them back!"

"Fine," she said and she dropped them on the floor, "I don't care what you do. I just wish we weren't in the same house. I don't want to see your selfish face again!"

"You think I care? I don't want to see you either!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"I breaking up with you!" she yelled at him.

"You can't, because I am breaking up with you! So HA! Go live with Snape and see if I care!" he yelled.

"I don't know why I ever went out with you in the first place, you ignorant fool!"

"And I don't know why I was ever attracted to you, your Royal Highness!"

"Get away from me!" she shouted, but she turned and ran the other direction, ran up the stairs opened her dorm door and threw herself inside, slamming the door behind her. She burst into tears as she lay face down on her bed.

James watched her all the way until he couldn't see her anymore, then stared down at the necklace and ring he had given her, in a pile. He didn't notice anyone else in the room. It was a very surreal experience as he looked down at the ground. He pulled himself away from it, turned on his heel and left the room.

The common room itself was very silent. No one moved or said anything for several minutes. Sirius was the first one to speak, and he voiced what everyone else was thinking: 

"Please tell me I didn't see that."


	17. The Long Awaited Match

***The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn't to be sold, reproduced or taken as true. Most Characters and locations belong to J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.***

  
  


Author's Note: Again, sorry it took me so long. The next chapter won't be up for a while, but it's coming. On a lighter note, I have no idea how many people actually read this story, because not everyone leaves a review. If I don't speak to you personally, can you leave something signifying that you have read my fic, just to give me an idea of how many people read it? It doesn't have to be long or anything, you can even say that you hate it, just something so I know how many read. I am accepting Anonymous reviews, so you don't have to register. Thank you. Sorry to keep you waiting.

  
  


Part Four: The Long Awaited Match

"When the surreal becomes reality...your heart will crumble."

James turned and walked back to the portrait but stopped himself. He started to pace in the corridor until the portrait swung open, then he started on his way in some random direction.

"James," Sirius said sounding nothing more than shocked. He quickly turned around to face him.

"Hey," James said. Sirius walked towards him and put his hand on James's shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked. James nodded slowly then started walking again. "Where are you going?" Sirius asked.

"Um," James said quietly, "I was going to go beat the bludgers around. Will you come with me?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course I will." Sirius put his arm on James's shoulder and walked him down to the field. Once there, James picked up Sam's beater club and released the two bludgers from the trunk. He mounted his broom and lifted up into the air. The first bludger came near him fast and he swung hard smacking it to Sirius who hit it back. It was very intense, having two bludgers for two people, that is. James kept hitting them constantly for over an hour, ignoring the soreness and fatigue in his body.

Finally, Sirius caught one of them and flew down to the ground and locked it up. James didn't move. He kept hitting the single bludger in the air, over and over and over again. Sirius sat on the trunk and just watched him.

James switched hands and started to beat the bludger with his left. Sirius sighed, but kept watching him. It didn't seem real to him. He never thought James and Lily would call it quits; it just never came into his mind.

James kept smacking the bludger, even though he was in pain, both physically and emotionally. At long last he dropped the club, caught the bludger, and headed down to the ground. Sirius walked over to him to take the bludger and pick up the club.

"Help me carry this?" Sirius asked. James nodded and picked up one side of the trunk and helped Sirius carry it to the locker room. They didn't speak on their way to the locker room or to the castle.

"You want to have dinner?" Sirius asked him as they approached the Great Hall. James shook his head and kept walking.

"You can," he said to Sirius. Sirius smiled at him but walked with James to the Common Room. James stopped at the portrait. "What if..." he started to ask, but Sirius got the message. He walked to the entrance, gave the password, then walked inside. James waited in the corridor.

"No. Come in," Sirius said. James walked inside and heard all conversations stop as he passed. Everyone looked at him as if he was from another planet. But he tried to ignore them as he followed Sirius up to his dorm. It seemed like hours before he got to the door and walked inside.

"James," Remus said, getting off his bed and going to him, "are you okay?" James nodded casually but didn't say anything. He went to his trunk, pulled out his sweat pants and shirt, and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

"Sirius, how is he really?" Remus asked him when they heard the water turn on in the bathroom.

"I have never seen him like this. I think he's miserable. I still can't believe it happened."

"Me neither. I wanted to talk to Liz about it, but all of the seventh year girls are in the dorm with Lily."

"Did anyone pick up the ring and necklace?" Sirius asked.

"I did," Remus said. He pulled them out of his pocket and gave them to Sirius. Sirius took them and walked over to his trunk and placed them carefully inside.

"What are we going to do?" Sirius asked him. "This isn't right. That was not supposed to happen."

"I know. But I don't know what to say-- to both of them. Yeah, James shouldn't have spent so much time with Quidditch, but Lily and Snape?"

"Well," Sirius said, "we'll just have to see what happens. Has she come out of the dorm yet?"

"No."

Sirius sat on his bed and stared out the window. He was hungry, but he felt guilty about leaving James. Then Peter came in through the door.

"Where is he?" Peter asked.

"Shower," Sirius said.

"The whole school is talking about it," Peter said.

"Imagine that," Sirius replied. 

"I'm sure Slytherin is happy. The game is in their hands, and James's heart is on a golden platter. I feel so bad. Why didn't any of us see this coming?" Remus asked.

Sirius shook his head and lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Remus and Peter sat down and kept quiet, having nothing important to say.

James spent thirty minutes in the shower and came out with his wet hair drooping into his eyes which gave him a desperate look. Sirius, Remus, and Peter all looked up at him but didn't speak. James drew back his curtains, laid down, and closed himself in without a single word to them. He lay his wet head on his pillow and closed his eyes, wishing that he would just stop thinking as his lids lowered.

Sirius got up silently and left the dorm. Remus and Peter followed. When the got downstairs they met Liz who was on her way up. She smiled weakly at the three of them but didn't stop to chat. Remus, however, held her back.

"I have to go back up there," she said to him.

"How long was it going on?" Remus asked. Sirius and Peter watched and listened.

Liz hesitated, "I don't know if it's right for me to discuss this with all of you. I have to go back up there and be with her. You understand."

"How is she taking it?" Sirius asked. Liz smiled weakly.

"How do you think she's taking it? How would you take it? You heard what he said to her. Look, Lily doesn't like Snape like that. I don't even know if she likes him as a friend. She wanted his attention, James's that is, but he didn't even see her. She thought that making him jealous would get his attention, but he burned her. She's been sobbing uncontrollably for hours. I have to go back. I'll see you in the morning." Liz left the three of them feeling really thickheaded. 

"Should we tell him that?" Remus asked, but Sirius shook his head.

"I don't think it would even matter. Lily doesn't know that Snape tried to poison her, she likes to see the good in people rather than the bad, but Snape is evil. Snape probably celebrated when Voldemort killed James's father. James knows that, and he knows Snape lusts for Lily. Lily doesn't. Maybe if she knew...I don't know. It's too soon to start thinking about all of this. I'm gonna go try to eat something. You two can come with me if you want." The two of them followed Sirius to the Great Hall, silently thinking of what came next.

* * * * *

Sirius was rudely awakened the next morning by high activity in the bathroom. He tried very hard to go back to sleep, but the moron made so much damn noise. Sirius covered his ears with his pillow, but he could still hear clanking and scraping. Sirius pulled the pillow off his head, moved the curtains of his four poster, and looked at his watch. It took him a second for his eyes to focus, then he just thought he was hallucinating. 

"Five? That's impossible. Who the hell is up at five?" Sirius threw off his covers and walked to the bathroom. He knocked on the door and waited.

"What?" James asked when he opened it.

"James? It's five. What are you doing?" Sirius asked through a yawn. He could see that James was fully dressed and had combed his hair, a futile effort, and appeared to have bleached his teeth.

"Rearranging the bathroom," he responded and opened the door fully.

"Re-rearranging the bathroom?" Sirius asked confused.

"Yes, don't make me repeat myself," James said. Sirius looked inside the bathroom and found that James wasn't bluffing. Things had moved.

"Why?" Sirius asked confused.

"Why?" James repeated quickly getting agitated. "Why, you ask? Because I don't like it."

"Oh," Sirius said, trying to sound convinced. "Yeah I can see now. I mean I too was getting...bored with the logical placement of the bathroom appliances. Yes I understand the move...now."

"What do you want?" James asked.

"Well you're being a little on the loud side, and though I am very grateful for your consideration and care for our bathroom, I don't know that the others would share in my opinion."

"Well it needs to be done," James said defensively.

"Oh and I agree," Sirius lied quickly. "It's just that it's a tad bit early for it. Maybe you should try sleeping."

"No. No, I won't sleep when there are things to be done. If you're not going to help me, then just leave me alone." Sirius didn't really know what to do with James and his very strange behavior, so he left him to it. Sirius went over to his trunk and removed his wand so he could place the silencing charm on the bathroom so James wouldn't wake anyone else in his work. Sirius got back under his covers and closed his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep.

He sighed and rolled on his side; he was very comfortable. Then someone threw his curtains back and started shaking him.

"Sirius, get up," James said. Sirius opened his right eye and looked at him.

"Why?" he asked.

"Breakfast. I'm starving, get up."

"B-Breakfast? N-now?" 

"Yes, now. And why do you keep stuttering? Are you alright?" Sirius thought that this was a very strange question for him to be asking.

"It's five, James," Sirius whispered.

"Your point being?" James asked. But he didn't wait for Sirius to answer. James lifted him out of bed, gave him his robes, and told him to hurry. Sirius complied reluctantly. Once he put on his shoes and fastened his cloak around his neck, James yanked him by the arm and dragged him to the Great Hall. Not to Sirius's surprise, no one was in there. 

"Where is everyone?" James asked.

"Bed. It's five in the morning," Sirius said, rubbing his eyes.

"You keep saying that like it's significant."

"It is. No one is awake at five."

James pulled Sirius again and dragged him to the Gryffindor table and made him sit down. Sirius, for once, was grateful. He put his head on the table and shut his eyes. He tried to imagine a bed in a cloud, far above the earth where he couldn't be bothered. It would have been nice to sleep there, he thought.

"You're not falling asleep are you?" James asked him.

"Why would I fall asleep at five in the morning?" he asked.

"I'm going to the kitchens, you want anything?" he asked.

"No thanks," Sirius said through a yawn. James got up and walked down to the large portrait of the fruit bowl and tickled the pear so the door would open. The elves were very happy to see him and pulled him inside.

He tried to smile at them, but his facial muscles failed him. They seemed to grasp the fact that he wasn't himself, which really wasn't that hard, and they give him plenty of food. He said he was thankful and promised to see them all soon and then left.

Upon arriving back into the Great Hall, James found Sirius snoring. James sighed with disapproval but didn't wake him. He sat down and devoured the food that could have fed three people, then he stared at his snoring friend. Sirius felt James constantly staring at him, and he woke.

"I'm going to go to the tower," James said.

"To sleep?" Sirius asked.

"No, Divination."

"James, that's not for three hours."

"I know. I'm going. See you around." James got up from the table and left. Sirius watched him leave; his head bent in sorrow. Sirius got up and ran after him to walk beside him on the way to the tower, and James was grateful.

But it was very early and the rope ladder wasn't lowered, so they sat against the castle wall and waited. James brought his knees close to his chest, crossed his arms on top of them and dropped his head.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sirius asked. He didn't really know what to do, but figured it was the best thing to ask.

James shook his head and closed his eyes. Neither of them spoke for three hours, they just waited.

At long last, the rope ladder fell. James jumped off the ground and helped Sirius up, then he climbed. He moved to the table in the very back corner so people wouldn't look at him as much. Sirius sat with him and waited for the class to arrive. Luckily, Remus and Peter were first to enter and they darted over to the table.

James did his best to cover his emotions and he put on a smile. "Hey," he said to them as if it was a regular day. They both looked at him with sympathy, which he hated.

"Hey," Remus said. "Where were you guys? I looked everywhere for you?"

"We were up at five," Sirius said smiling, "We had breakfast."

"I had breakfast, you snored. How did you guys like the new bathroom?" James asked smirking.

Remus and Peter looked strangely at James. "It's nice," they said. "How are you feeling?" Peter asked him.

"Oh, never felt better," he said and smiled widely again. Remus and Peter sat down across from him.

"What did you do to your teeth?" Peter asked.

"You like them?" James asked, "I bleached them. I always wanted to, but never got around to it. So I did it this morning."

"They look nice, James," Remus said. When the class filled, Trelawny made her mystical appearance. James noticed a number of students turning back to look at him, and he did his best to smile.

"Great pain, my dears. I can feel it, I have foreseen it in my crystal gazing," she said. Everyone turned to look at James who suddenly became interested in the clouds outside the window.  "It is not the last time you will cry," she said looking directly at James. He smiled at her. 

"I haven't cried," he said.

"Oh you will," she said spookily. "You will." James started to get irritated with her. He didn't like people looking at him as if he was a delicate flower ready to wilt.

"And I suppose you're not going to tell me when that is, now, are you?" he asked defiantly. She lowered her head but kept eye contact with him. She smiled evilly.

"I will, but not now." James felt a shiver run up his spine, and he jumped. Trelawny started talking normal again, and people were watching her instead of him.

"She's starting to creep me out," he whispered to Sirius. Sirius looked at him and grinned.

"Why?" he asked curiously.

James sniggered, "Didn't you just hear what she said to me?" he asked. Sirius looked truly confused and shook his head.

"She said that...well that I would cry again, and she'd tell me when but not now....didn't you hear her say that?" But Sirius looked at him unusually.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" he asked him. James looked at Remus who was also staring at him with confusion.

"Remus, tell me you heard her say that." But Remus also shook his head. James heard his heart beating very quickly and felt cold sweat on the back of his neck. Was he hallucinating? Did she really talk to him, like she did before? James sat back in his chair and put his hand on his forehead.

"Do you need to see the nurse?" Sirius asked. James shook his head again. He looked up at Trelawny again and felt a sudden headache but didn't move.

"She was right, then, wasn't she?" Peter asked James.

"What are you talking about?" James asked.

"Your dream that you had with her in it, remember? She said you'd have a terrible fight, and you did, with Lily," Peter whispered. Both Sirius and Remus hadn't thought of that before. But James did, he remembered as soon as he saw Trelawny's face.

"What do you make of that?" Sirius asked. "Do you think it was real?" James shrugged, then looked down at his bag and decided to pull out a book, but his head just started to hammer him. He got up suddenly, which caused everyone to look at him, and started for the ladder.

"Where are you going?" Trelawny asked.

"What, you don't know? I thought you could see into the future." James jumped down the ladder and caught one more look of Trelawny's face: she looked displaced. James skipped the last few steps and hit the ground a little harder than he would have liked. The fact was, he didn't know where he was going, he just didn't want to be in there. He put his hands in his robe pockets and shuffled down the corridor. 

He thought about her, but really didn't want to. He kept seeing her face, her sad heartbroken face when he said those words. James shook his head and walked into the bathroom. No one was in there, and he was glad.

He walked over to the sink and turned on the water. It poured out of the facet like it always did, but it looked different. James took off his glasses and put them on the sink so that he could splash his face. It was very cold, but he didn't mind it. He passed his wet hands through his hair and pulled it, almost wishing it would come out. Then he looked up slowly and gazed at his image in the mirror. His hand fumbled around for his glasses to put on his face so he could really look closely. James had never looked carefully at his reflection before. 

He had a thin face, though it was well chiseled with an athletic jaw. His eyes were sky blue, covered by round glasses. He hadn't always had those frames. He overheard Lily saying she liked the round ones better, like some musician had. Why did he have to think of her? He pressed hard on his head, trying to flatten his hair, but it stuck up. Then he felt a pain in his eyes, and as he looked into the mirror he saw a single tear roll down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away and gripped the edge of the sink as he stared downwards.

"Don't cry," he said to himself. "Don't cry." He looked back in the mirror, but something kept ringing inside his head, something he wished he wouldn't hear: "You always have to be on top, don't you? Always have to be the best and Hell will freeze over they day you admit you're wrong. Open your eyes, you're not that great."

Another tear leaked out, then another and another until he lost count. They were very cold tears; as each one dripped down his face he shivered. James couldn't stand to look at himself anymore. His knees gave way, and he collapsed in a heap on the floor, though he still held onto the sink. He kept replaying those words over and over in his mind which only caused him more pain. James crawled to the corner of the room and sat there, hating himself.

By the time James pulled himself out of his corner, the bell rang. He wiped his eyes and told himself everything would be fine, though he still thought otherwise. James checked the mirror again and saw his eyes were very red and bloodshot, but he really didn't want the whole school knowing that he cried in the bathroom. He washed his face and stayed in there a little longer hoping that his eyes would go back to normal.

Then he stepped out and walked quickly to the History of Magic class. He noticed that all of the Gryffindor girls gave him nasty looks as they passed him. He tried ignoring them.

When he got into Professor Binns's class, he saw that Sirius had picked the table in the far back corner, which made him think of Lily again. Why did he have to pick that table from all the rest?

"Sirius," James whispered, "let's sit someplace else, shall we?"

"Why?" he asked without thinking. James raised his eyebrows at him. Then Sirius put two and two together. "Oooh, alright. Hey Remus!" he yelled. "Switch with us." Remus gave him a quizzical look.

"What? What's wrong with your seat?" Remus asked.

"Just switch, will you? James doesn't want to sit in the back, remember?" he asked, trying not to move his mouth.

"Oh," Remus said, "sure," and he and Peter got up and moved to the back. James and Sirius sat in their chairs and waited for the class to begin. James couldn't help but look around the room for her, though he didn't want to see her. At least he thought he didn't. But there was no sign of Lily. He did see Jade and Liz to the right of him, and when they saw him they just glared. James turned away quickly.

"They all hate me," he whispered to Sirius.

"Who?" Sirius asked.

"Them, the female student body. All the Gryffindor's at least." 

"Don't be silly." But Sirius did see a definite trend. He looked around the classroom and James seemed to be right; all the girls were giving James dirty looks.

"I think your imagining things," Sirius whispered to him, trying to alleviate his nerves.

"I am not. They all hate me. I can feel it in the atmosphere."

Then Professor Binns made his ghostly appearance into the room and began his daily drone. James wasn't going to break with precedence and listen to him, so he put his head on his desk and closed his eyes. Sirius followed suit. Things remained uninteresting and down right boring until a half an hour later when the classroom door opened.

Binns stopped talking, which caused James and Sirius to open their eyes and look up at him.

"Either come to class, or don't come at all, young lady," he said.

"I'm here for class," she said. James heard his heart stop. It was Lily. More than anything he wanted to turn around and see her, and more than anything he wished he didn't want to see her. If he looked quickly, maybe she wouldn't notice. Yeah right.

Lily walked to sit with Liz and Jade who smiled at her. James was fighting a war with his neck, which seemed to want to turn to look at her, but he didn't want her to see him looking. James pulled out his ink well, quill and parchment and wrote a note.

"How is she?" he wrote out and passed to Sirius. Sirius turned in his chair to pop his back and yawned, then wrote back.

"Like she's been crying all night." James felt as though his insides had fallen out. He put the stopper back in the well and went to put it back in his bag. James glanced at her as he did this and immediately agreed with Sirius. Her eyes were very red and puffy. Her hair wasn't down and long and beautiful, it was up in a bun with many fly-aways. And James noticed something that made him feel much worse; for the first time the entire year she was not wearing her Head Girl badge.

He hated himself. Even Snape seemed better than he did at the moment. James wished the class would end soon, not that it would be any better, but he still wanted it to end.

When it finally did, James packed his stuff slowly and waited to get up till he was sure that Lily had already left. "She wasn't wearing it," he said to Sirius.

"I know," Sirius said back. "Let's go to lunch." They got up and joined Remus and Peter and walked to the Great Hall. James looked along the table for her and saw that she was sitting at the far end, near the staff table. The Hall got spookily silent when he came in; people at all tables just stared. The Slytherins smiled with delight.

"Ignore them," Sirius said. He tried, but it was very difficult. The only person that did not look at him as he came in was Lily, who was reading a book.

"This really sucks," James said. "How long is this going to go on?"

"Well, you did go out with her for over a year, and it was a pretty nasty breakup," Sirius said.

"Thank you," James said satirically, "so glad you told me, 'cause I wasn't there. That wasn't my question. How long is this going to go on?"

"James, I don't know. No one cares when I break up with a girl, but you two were like royalty. Like the Hogwarts King and Queen. It's just really unexpected."

"Well she shouldn't have spent time with that slime ball," James said as he lifted his glass goblet.

"And you shouldn't have spent so much time with Quidditch," Remus said. James got angry.

"Whose side are you on?" James asked him.

"Well, James, you have to admit she had a point. But I'm on your side."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore. The next person that says her name is going to hear from me. Is that clear?" he asked the three of them. They all nodded. "Good."

"Hey James," Sam Moore said."  Are we having practice this afternoon?" 

James hesitated a while. "Yes, of course we are. Do you think I would give all of you the day off?"

"Well I thought that maybe because Lily broke up with you that you might not want to practice," Sam said, but soon wished he hadn't.

"What?" James asked, standing up. "Let's get one thing straight.  I broke up with her, and I feel fine about it!" he yelled. Sam, as well as everyone else in the Hall stared at him...again.

"Okay," Sam whispered, and walked quickly away. James sat down again and looked at Sirius. "You got a problem?" he asked.

"She did break up with you," Peter said. "I saw it, I was there."

"What did I just say?" James asked, pounding his fists on the table. Peter wanted to answer back, but Sirius kicked him.

"Hey James!" it was David Butterfield, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain.

"What do you want?" James asked.

"I've heard that Slytherin's putting up a real tough defense, and I thought I could help you out," he said.

"I don't need help," James said shortly. David smiled.

"So....do you think.....um.....well...."

"Spit it out will you?" 

"Do you think you'll get back together? With her I mean." James stood up again, and Peter plugged his ears.

"Go away," James said silently. "It just happened, could you wait a while?"

David smiled and turned, "Good luck on Saturday, James. I hope you win." David walked down to the other end of the table and stopped in front of Lily. Sirius had to keep James in his seat.

"What is he doing?" James asked with rage. "I thought he was my friend, and now he's talking to her? He can't have her." 

"James, it's over, alright, it's over. She can see whoever she wants now unless you talk to her about it and fix everything."

James watched David talk to her. All of a sudden he realized what David actually looked like. David was very tall and well endowed in the muscular arena; he was also handsome. Why James had never seen that before, he didn't know. Lily was talking to him, but not smiling. Then she turned to see James looking at her, and he quickly faced Remus again.

"I can't stand this. How do you do this all the time?" he asked Sirius.

"Well it's never this bad with me. If it's bothering you that much just go and talk to her."

"NO! I didn't do anything wrong, she was the one who screwed up. I just hate seeing her, that's what it is. I don't want to get back together with her. No way. I don't need her, I don't need anyone."

"Okay," Sirius said. "Whatever you say, James, whatever you say."

* * * * *

Friday was the worst day imaginable. It was the day they had double Potions with the Slytherins. 

"Why do we always have Potions with them?" James asked. "Why can't we have it with the Hufflepuffs? Doesn't anything ever change in this school? And why on a Friday? The best day of the week has to be ruined with those slimy people. And why do we have to have it for so long?" James groaned as they walked down to the dungeons.

"I really don't want to hear what Snape has to say. If he says anything about anything, I'm afraid that I'll have to kill him. I just will. And no one's going to stop me."

The other three didn't say anything. James had become extremely agitated over the days to the point that if anyone mentioned anything to him, he would start yelling at them. When they got to Potions, the three of them escorted James inside and warned everyone nonverbally not to engage in any kind of communication with James.

"Good morning," Professor Wicks said smiling.

"Yeah, what's so good about it?" James mumbled to himself. He didn't even listen to what Wicks was saying because he was too busy staring at Snape stare at Lily. James looked at Sirius quickly, who was actually listening to Wicks. What a doop, James thought. But that didn't matter. James carefully pulled out his wand and pointed it at the back of Snape's head. James grinned evilly. "Strikchorus," James whispered. A thin white light jetted out of his wand and hit Snape in the back of the head, causing him to lunge forward and smack himself on the desk. Wicks stopped teaching and asked if Snape was alright. 

"Who did this?" Wicks asked. James probably could have gotten away with it if he hadn't laughed so hard.

"Mr. Potter, did you do this?" he asked, everyone in the class looked at him. 

James was laughing like a mad man and stomping his feet under his desk. He nodded his head.

"Yes," he said through the laughter, "I did. That's my work." Professor Wicks looked very disappointed and shocked.

"You have lost twenty points from Gryffindor," Wicks said, but James was still sniggering.

"It was worth it! I guess you'll want me to see the Headmaster now?" James asked. Wicks nodded. James got up, shot a glare at Snape who was rubbing his forehead, and started for the door. "Don't worry," James said to the class, "We'll get the points back. We're going to knock the shit out of Slytherin tomorrow, I promise."

"Mr. Potter, keep it up and you'll get a detention. I want a note coming back from Headmaster Dumbledore, and an apology to Severus."

"Apology? Can't I just take the detention instead? 'Cause I'm not sorry for it."

"Just GO!" Wicks yelled, and James left. He kept laughing at the memory of Snape's face as he pummeled it onto his desk.

"What's so amusing, James?" It was Dumbledore. James straightened  up.

"Nothing, sir."

"I believe you were sent to see me?" he asked. James nodded.

"Tell me, what did you do this time?"

"I hit Snape in the back of the head with a spell, and Professor Wicks didn't find it funny," James explained, still overcome with the mental image of the scene. Dumbledore frowned at him.

"Come with me, James, let's talk."

"I don't really feel like talking, sir," James said, but Dumbledore put his arm around his shoulder anyway and walked down the corridor. 

"I've been hearing things about you, James, and I'm not liking what I hear. You've been very short with your professors, and I hear your classmates complaining about your...heightened sensitivity."

"I'm not sensitive!" James yelled.

"Then why are you always screaming at people when they ask you simple questions, like 'How has your day been?'"

"Who the hell has asked me that?" James asked.

"I just did, you have proven my point with your answer."

"Yeah, yeah." He really didn't want to talk to Dumbledore about anything right now, but he didn't want to be in Potions either. The fact of the matter was, James just wanted to hit something, or blow something up, or break a table with his fist. Or maybe his head. Yeah...that might be cool.

"Let's go to my office and talk, James." But it wasn't a request. Dumbledore steered James up to his office, even pushing him because he really didn't want to go. "Sit, please."

James threw himself on the chair and crossed his arms. Then he stared at Dumbledore, waiting to hear the lecture that was bound to fall from his lips. Here it comes, James thought, he could feel it coming: a long drawn out speech about maturity and being a man, and yadayadada.

"James," he began trying to sound sensible, "I think I know what's bothering you so much." James raised his eyebrows.

"Oh really," James said.

"Yes. I would like to think I know you fairly well, and your behavior has changed considerably since it happened."

James fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat and closed his eyes, "I don't want to talk about that," James said.

"I think it would be best if you discussed it with someone, as I know you have not."

"I don't want to," James said more forcefully.

"She is very upset about this," Dumbledore said. James stood up in a rage.

"She's talked to you!"

"Yes, when we had our Head of House meeting yesterday. You seemed to have forgotten that, and I had to call her out of class because she didn't want to come," he said with a different tone.

"And you didn't pull me out?" he asked.

"I don't think that would have been a wise decision, do you?" 

James slowly shook his head.

"I think you need to resolve this with her, in some way even if things don't go back to the ways that they were. You're going to have to see her everyday for the next seven months; some kind of accord would do you both well." 

"Just stay out of it!" James yelled.

"Relax, James. I am giving you some advice."

"Well stop! I don't need your advice. Just leave me alone, I can take care of myself!" he yelled.

"There's no need to yell. Sit down and let's talk about this," Dumbledore said quietly, but James wouldn't have it.

"I said I didn't want to talk about it. What's done is done, only time can 'fix' all of this. I don't know what she told you, but I don't want or need you butting into my life!"

"I'm only trying to help you," Dumbledore said, raising his voice.

"Well I don't want your help. You're not my father!" he yelled and he started to leave.

Dumbledore rose and walked over to the door to stop James from leaving. He looked into James's eyes for several moments before speaking.

"Just wait a second, I need to write you a note for Professor Wicks," he said as he started for his desk again. He took a quill and parchment and wrote out a very short note confirming that he had talked to James.

"Here, take it," he said to him. James looked at him and reached to grab it. When he did, Dumbledore held to it.

"Good luck tomorrow, James. I hope you win your match," then he smiled and released the note to him.

* * * * *

"Maybe we could postpone it, until you're feeling better," Sirius suggested as James was stretching on Saturday morning.

"No way," James said, "I'm feeling fine. I don't know why everyone in this Godforsaken world thinks I'm off center. Bunch of nutters if you ask me. Why aren't you getting ready?" James asked him.

"I'm just worried about you. You're not acting normally and it's getting worse by the day instead of better. You have to do something to fix this, James, it's not healthy."

"I am so sick of everyone telling me that I have to do something. Why do I have to, eh? Did anyone ever think that maybe I'm not the bad guy here? Did they? People seem to have forgotten that SNAPE was in the picture here. A weasel that did a jig when my father was murdered. I'm sorry, my girlfriend shouldn't spend time with a snake like that. But no one thinks about that, do they?"

Sirius put on his scarlet sweater and robes and his shin and arm guards without arguing with him anymore. When the three other guys came in, they were also silent. 

James walked out of the locker room dressed and ready to do battle and waited outside for the rest of the team. When they arrived, he told them to sit down and keep quiet.

"We have practiced far too long for us to lose," he started. "We have to go out there and give everything we've got to end this thing. I know it's supposed to be fun, and it's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game. I happen know that whoever said that was always a loser. Winning reflects good and hard work like we have done. Slytherin has bigger players, and I have seen their new beater, Mark Townsend, and well...he's quite huge, but we are more skilled." James looked at the six of them and wanted more than anything to sound encouraging to them, but it just wasn't coming to him. "I know all of you will do your absolute best. I know that. It's just that I have put every free second I had into this team since the second week of school. And I've given up far too much to see us lose. We have to win, you guys, we have to win."

The six of them smiled weakly at him. James paused to think of more to say.

"Sirius says I haven't been myself lately. Well, I just want to win this and move on. Ballard has been at me for the past few days like a shark, and I just want to see his ugly face as part of one of your clubs," he said to Sam and Sirius who smiled. "I guess there's nothing more for me to say. Just go out there and do your best, and win." Though it wasn't as high spirited and exciting as his other pre-game speeches, it was effective.

Each of them was present at Tuesday's big fight and they knew that James had given up everything he had to win, so they were more than determined to win it for him. So they walked out to the field silently and waited to be announced by Al Davis, the commentator.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the first Quidditch match of the season: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin! Now flying into the pitch is the Slytherin team under a new captain, Seeker Jake Ballard!" The Slytherins went wild, but the other houses, especially Gryffindor, booed them. The Slytherins flew around the field, enjoying the animosity from Gryffindor and waited for their enemies. 

"And now I give you the six time winners of the Quidditch cup, GRYFFINDOR!" As usual, the entire pitch, with the exception of Slytherin, was beside themselves with enthusiasm as the team flew out onto the field. James did his loop around the field as usual, but as he passed the Gryffindor section, his heart fell.

James slowed down as he looked in the stands and noticed something very different. Lily wasn't there. She had always come to see him play Quidditch since he joined the team in his second year. But there was no sign of her. And that's when it happened.

He couldn't really figure out why he was there playing Quidditch. He didn't even care that much about winning. It just didn't matter anymore. Not even Jade nor Liz were in the stands cheering for the team.

"You alright?" Sirius asked.

"She's not there," James answered sadly. Sirius looked at the Gryffindor pitch and nodded his head. "Did you expect her to be?" Sirius asked.

"Well, yeah. She always has been before, I just thought that maybe..." he didn't finish. Madam Hooch was signaling for James to shake with Ballard, so he flew down to the center of the field.

Jake was smiling maliciously as he saw James's lack of concentration. He walked towards him and put out his hand for James, who took it but didn't really care. 

"A clean game, gentlemen," she said, mostly to the Slytherin team. James rose back in the air and looked into the stands again. Where was she? Did she hate him that much that she didn't want to see the team win?

"And the Quaffle has been released!" Al screamed. "And Slytherin has possession as Cody Baines snatches it out of the air. He passes to Viktor Vancas who's taking it to make a score. Casey Riley looks really worried, ladies and gentlemen, but I think she can handle it. There seems to be no defense from the Gryffindor chasers who look out of place, and...OH SH-(he said something that is too shameful and harmful for a younger audience to hear. McGonnagal got quite upset and chucked an apple at his head.) Viktor Vancas makes a score. Ten nothing Slytherin."

James moved towards Casey and caught the Quaffle when she threw it at him. He flew the opposite direction and dodged both bludgers as they came for his head.

"And Potter passes to Mueller who takes it up the field. Cody Baines interferes and tries to force the Quaffle out of his hands, oh this is disgraceful! Johnson of Gryffindor comes to his aid, and Mueller passes to Johnson who goes to make the score....but it's saved," he said disappointed, "by Keeper Dustin Shaw." Chris Mueller flew over to James who hadn't really moved since the start of the game.

"James, you have to do something!" he said panicky, "You're what holds us all together. If you don't help us, then we'll lose!"

"I just can't," James said.

"Why not? You're the best one, we can't do this without you."

"And Slytherin has possession!" Davis yelled, "Robert Castle takes it right down the field, dodges the bludger that Black sent his way, and he scores. Twenty nothing, Slytherin."

"James!" Chris screamed at him, "Help us win!" James looked into the stands again, then at the faces of his six team mates. They were all looking at him with desperation.

With all of the strength he had, James flew hard at Cody Baines who had possession of the Quaffle.

"Whoa, and here comes Captain James Potter!" Al said with delight. Baines cleared out of the way and passed the Quaffle to Robert Castle. But James stayed on his tail. Then Brian Johnson came up next to James awaiting his instruction.

"Get in front of him," James said quietly. Brian nodded and complied with the order and moved in front of Castle.

"Out of my way!" he yelled at him. But Brian didn't move.

Having no other choice, Castle threw the Quaffle in Viktor Vancas' direction. This is what James had planned.

James moved from behind Castle and grabbed the Quaffle as it soared towards Viktor. The Gryffindor crowd went wild as James headed for Dustin Shaw to attempt a score.

"And he's reborn as he heads for the Slytherin goal post. Dustin Shaw is looking mighty nervous," he said with more excitement. Professor McGonnagal and the other teachers leaned forward as James bolted to the goal post.

"Cody Baines tries to block him, but Potter isn't moving. Baines moves out of the way and James scores!" The crowd went wild with excitement. Sirius high fived James as he flew by to intercept the Quaffle again.

Jake Ballard, who had been watching for the snitch above the field, rose to anger. It wasn't supposed to be happening like this, he thought. He looked up at Amanda who was also circling the field, and cursed at her.

"And Potter scores again! Twenty to twenty!" Jake made a series of signals to his team mates, and they nodded.

Sirius picked up on the behavior of the Slytherin team, and tightened his grip on his club. "Hey Sam!" he yelled. "Be on the watch!"

James, on the other hand, tried to ignore all other activity outside of the Quaffle. James was, as Chris had said, the best chaser on the team and was usually the strong point. Both Chris and Brain kept passing the Quaffle to James so that he could make the scores. 

Fifteen minutes into the game, the score was astonishing: one hundred to ten, Gryffindor. Needless to say, Slytherin was quite upset. Jake Ballard called for a time out.

James also took advantage of the time and called his team down.

"Any sign of it?" James asked Amanda.

"Haven't even seen a glimmer," she said. James rolled his eyes and looked at the Slytherin huddle.

"I don't know what they're planning over there, but it's making me sweat. I can't keep this up much longer. Mandi you have to get it, I can't stress this enough. Just for now fake him out, give him something to do because he's brewing something and I don't know what it is."

She nodded at him, "I'll try."

"Are you ready?" Madam Hooch asked when she came up to James.

"Yes." The seven of them rose into the air and commenced play. James made his way for another score and smiled at Ballard just to tweak him.

"Well," Al Davis said, "those Slytherins are going to have to do a lot better if they want to beat Gryffindor. Captain James Potter goes for another score....YES! One hundred and ten to ten, Gryffindor one hundred points in the lead! I'm sure Ballard wishes that he had practiced more, now!" James passed the Quaffle to Chris who went to make another score.

"Holy Moley! Looks like Ballard is after the snitch!" Everyone but the two seekers stopped. James, with Quaffle in hand, stared transfixed as his young seeker tried to keep up with Jake.

"Come on," he said to himself as he watched her reach out her hand, "you can do this." Then Amanda pulled up very quickly as the Snitch flew upwards. Ballard wasn't so quick, and it cost him the game.

"GRYFFINDOR WINS!" Davis shouted as the crowd went wild. James sighed with relief and slowly descended to the ground, when something terrible happened.

In a fit of rage, Mark Townsend, the new beater who was very burly, smacked the bludger as hard as he could. The result was very unexpected.

On his way to congratulate the team for its efforts, especially Amanda, Sirius was pelted from behind with the bludger. It hit his right shoulder so hard that he slipped off the front of his broom and started to fall. All of the students in the stands rushed forward to get a better look and showed signs, mostly verbally, of their concern. James heard the crowds reaction and turned to look at Sirius dropping to earth. He raced over to him as fast as he could and caught him before he hit the ground from over one hundred feet.

He was groaning with pain as James lay him down on the grass. The rest of the team rushed over to him and huddled around.

"Is he okay?" Sam asked.

"Does he look okay to you?" James asked harshly. Sirius kept groaning and leaned on his left side.

"Step out of the way," Madam Hooch said, moving through the tight group of Gryffindors. Then the Gryffindor student body flooded the field around their injured classmate. Madam Hooch looked at his shoulder, with him groaning the entire time, then gave her diagnosis. "Oh dear," she said, "I think you dislocated it, and possibly broke it."

"Him?" James said his face going red with rage, "Sirius didn't do anything. The entire school witnessed Townsend hitting him with it. He should be expelled!"

"He needs to see Madam Pomfrey. Help me with him," she said to James, seeming to ignore Townsend's behavior.

"Ow, ow, ow," Sirius said as James lifted him up, "don't touch me," he wined.

James held him up and walked him to the castle, which seemed like a rather long journey, until they finally reached the hospital wing.

"Oh it's you two, is it," Madam Pomfrey said when she saw them.

"He's hurt, you have to help him," James said as he set Sirius on a bed.

"Ouch, careful!" he said to James. Soon the entire team was in the hospital wing, hovering over Sirius's bed. 

"Now all of you need to leave," Madam Pomfrey said to the six of them.

"No, he's hurt!" James said.

"Yes, and I'm going to help him. He'll be as good as new in a few moments, you'll hardly miss him. Now all you need to leave."

"What are you going to do to me?" Sirius asked through much pain. "Please, nothing that involves my blood. I can't stand blood. Oh please don't hurt me."

"I'm not going to hurt you, just relax. Mr. Potter," she said. He was the only one that still remained in the room. 

"What? I'll do anything to help," he said.

"Excellent. Leave, just leave."

"But I want- 

"I know. You two seem to think you're joined at the hip or something."

"Do not," Sirius said. "Just let him stay, will you? For moral support."

"Out, Potter," she said pointing to the door as if he didn't know where the exit was.

Sirius tried smiling at him, "At least we beat them, James. We beat them. All that practice paid off, eh? We really slaughtered 'em."

James turned back and tried to smile, but his neurotransmitters in his brain weren't communicating with his facial muscles properly.

"Yeah," he said, "we beat them alright."

"Hey, don't start that victory party without me," Sirius added through gritted teeth.

"We won't." James opened the door and left. He should be happy, they beat Slytherin by a landslide. But he wasn't, and now he was ready to admit to himself exactly why that was.

He walked inside the Gryffindor Common room and saw that the party hadn't commenced yet, but they were getting ready for it. The five other players were talking about sneaking into the kitchens to nick food from the elves. Many of the Gryffindors cheered James when he came into the room, and he smiled weakly.

Then he noticed Liz sitting alone in the corner, reading a book. He decided to talk to her.

"Hey," he said with a warm smile to her.

She looked up at him from her book, but wasn't so friendly. "Hello," she said coolly.

"Where's Lily?" he asked.

"Why?" she asked, slamming her book shut.

"I have to give you a reason? Are you her manager now?" he asked.

"No, I'm damage control. You really hurt her with what you said. As far as I know she still wants no part of you, especially your attitude and personality."

James started to hear drumming in his ears, and the temperature rose in his face. He stepped backwards until he reached the Portrait hole, then he left. He started running to the suit of armor which blocked the most widely used passage way out of the school. He just wanted to leave, entirely. He ran as fast as he could out of the castle and transformed into a magnificent stag and ran even faster deep into the dark forest.

  
  


Sirius was as good as new ("I still don't get how anyone can be as good as new!") in a matter of minutes and went down to celebrate Gryffindor's slaughter of Slytherin. The moment he walked into the room, the house went wild. They cheered him on as if he defeated a killer dragon with his bare hands. He welcomed it, of course, and partied hard like the rest of them.

It wasn't until around eleven that Sirius noticed something was missing: James. It was customary that he and James would keep together and crack jokes and pull pranks, give speeches, help Sirius cruise girls, but there was none of that.

"Where is he?" Sirius asked Remus.

"I haven't seen him since this afternoon. Where do you think he is?"

"I'll go check the map," Sirius said and turned and walked towards the stairs, "Oh, right," he said suddenly stopping. "We have to get that back. How the hell am I supposed to find him now?"

"Look for him, maybe?" Remus suggested, "Do you want me to help you?"

"No, I'll find him. I just have to search high and low, right and left, over and under..."

"Thanks, Sirius, I get it. Just go find him and bring him back, will you?" Remus asked.

"I'm outta here," he said and he left. He decided to first look in the obvious: Astronomy Tower, Great Hall, kitchens, and possibly Myrtle's Bathroom. Unfortunately for Sirius, James was in none of those places. Now the castle was not a small cozy building, but large and vast. It took Sirius close to an hour to avoid Filch and his little cat and look for James, but he was no where to be seen. There was one other place James would go, and Sirius knew exactly where that was.

He snuck to the passageway covered by the suit of armor and slipped into it. He transformed quickly into his dog form and raced to the Dark Forest. James had sought out a location two years ago when he wanted to be alone, and he went there to clear his congested head ever since. 

It took Sirius five minutes at a fast run to get there, but the run paid off. Prongs was there, tall and noble staring at the breathtaking scenery. Padfoot walked over and stood next to him, but Prongs didn't notice him at first. Instead he was staring at the small waterfall, which sparkled with the reflection of the diamond night sky. It was the only place deep in the forest that you could see the thousands of stars in the heavens.

Padfoot transformed and stood next to Prongs, gazing at the mist the waterfall made when it crashed into the small pond.

"I think you need to talk about it, as much as that sounds....therapeutic, you need to get it off your chest." Prongs turned his great head and looked at him with his large black eyes. "You can't ignore this anymore, James, I know that's what you've been trying to do."

He transformed back into himself and slumped down on the soft grass. Sirius sat next to him, but they didn't talk for several minutes. James continued to stare into the forest, reflecting upon his entire life and his most recent choices.

"I didn't mean a single word I said to her," he said after ten minutes of silence. Sirius nodded his head, but said nothing. "I never believed that anyone could have an out of body experience, but I did. It just seemed so surreal, you know?"

Again, Sirius nodded.

"It was like I was watching myself. And I just kept thinking, what kind of monster says those things to the woman he loves? Who says that? I told her I didn't think she was special. I actually said, my lips actually formed those words. But it's not true, she means everything to me. She means the world to me and now I've lost her, just because I couldn't control my temper," James said as he bent his head down.

"I think you can fix this, you know. You just have to tell her what you told me."

"I don't think so," James said. "She hates me."

"Why do you think that?" Sirius asked. "Because she didn't come to see the game?"

"Not just that. Liz told me. 'Lily doesn't want to have any part of me.' That's a direct quote."

Sirius sighed and shook his head.

"James, I don't think that has anything to do with anything. You know how girls are; they get protective and anti-men when one of their friends gets hurt. That's all Liz was doing: protecting Lily. And that's probably why Jade is so apt on ignoring me. So what's it going to be?"

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"Are you going to apologize to her?"

"What? Me apologize?" he asked in alarm

"Yes, you. You're the one who screwed up here, pal. You made a promise to her that you would spend more time with her than with Quidditch, did you not?"

James shuffled uncomfortably on the grass.

"Earth to James," Sirius said, "did you not make that promise?" James didn't answer. "I can't hear you," Sirius said.

"Yes," James said quietly, "I said that. But she was with Snape!" Some wild birds flew out of the bushes when he yelled this.

"That really doesn't matter. You screwed up first. Can we get out of here, it's getting a little nippy." Sirius got up and pulled James off the ground.

"I don't want to go back there," James said, resisting Sirius.

"Tough, you're going to fix this with her," Sirius said, pushing him harder.

"Don't make me hurt you," James said pushing back.

"If you don't move, I'll transform and bite you!"

"If you don't stop pushing me, I'll transform and gourd you!"

"I'll bite you thin little heels!"

"Try it and I'll kick you in the face, pretty boy!"

"JUST MOVE!" Sirius yelled, and they headed back to the castle.

  
  


Not surprisingly, only Remus remained in the Common Room when the two arrived back. It was past one in the morning, and the party was forced to end.

"McGonnagal made us stop. Sent everyone off to bed," Remus informed them.

"That's nice," Sirius said, who was still gripping James tightly by the elbows.

"Let go of me, now!" James yelled at him. 

"Are you going to stay here, or am I going to have to restrain you to a chair?" Remus looked at the two of them very strangely. "I had to wrestle him to the ground, literally. He's a lot stronger than he looks, let me tell you," Sirius informed him.

James was still trying to set himself free, but Sirius had him in a tight lock.

"I'm going to dislocate your shoulder, again," James threatened.

"I'll let you go if you promise not to run away," Sirius explained, but James still struggled. "Fine, have it your way. Remus help me with his-royal-stubbornness, will you?" Remus gladly went over and took one of James's arms and helped Sirius push him down into a chair.

"You're stuck," Remus said, "just give up."

"We just want to talk to you about Lily, that's all. Clarify some things for you," Sirius said.

"Would you just let go of me, please?" James asked.

"Will you listen to us and stay in that chair?" Remus asked.

"Yes!" he yelled. They released him but stayed close in case he got up and ran for the door. But he didn't. Instead he crossed his arms and frowned at the two of them.

"Now," Sirius started, "Like I was saying before in the forest-"

"Yeah, why did you make me leave? I was fine there until you came along and messed it all up. I don't want to hear anything you two have to say. I can handle everything on my own."

Sirius guffawed, "Sure you can. Look, James, we want to help you get back with her. That's all. And you do need our help because you suck doing this alone. If you could do it, it would have been done hours after it happened, not days."

"She was seeing Snape. Give me your excuse for that one," James said.

"She wasn't 'seeing' Snape, James," Remus started. "Liz told us that Lily was using Snape to get your attention, to make you jealous."

James held up his hand, "Did you hear something?" he whispered.

Sirius and Remus shook their heads.

"I thought I heard the door open. Great, not only am I hallucinating, I'm hearing things as well." James shook his head and sighed. "It's just that it's Snape. Anyone else....why did she have to use Snape?"

"He was there at the right time," Remus said. "They were in the library getting books when Snape came into the picture. It was the spur of the moment thing. It wasn't premeditated or anything."

"He tried to poison her! Don't you remember that?" James asked. "Last year, the love potion, Sirius trying to knock him off, me saving his ugly ass? Doesn't this sound familiar to anyone? He tried to take her from me by force! And now she's out tutoring him? Does anyone else see a problem with this? He's a dangerous person!"

"Have you told her that Snape was going to slip her that potion?" Sirius asked. James stared at him.

"No. No I would never tell her that. I don't want to scare her, Sirius. That's all it would accomplish: she'd be terrified."

"Then how is she suppose to know he's a danger to her?" Sirius asked. James put his hands through his hair and shut his eyes.

"I don't know, his crowd?" he asked silently.

"Lily likes to see the good in people, James. That's one of her qualities. That's something you love about her," Remus explained. James still had his hands on his head and his eyes closed.

"Yeah, I know. But don't you remember how happy he looked when he caught word that Voldemort murdered my father? Please tell me that. She knows he was thrilled about it."

"Look," Sirius said crossing his arms, "we can talk about Snape all night long and get no where. The point of the matter is, Lily went to Snape to get your attention, because you were working with the team every waking minute. You promised her James, you promised her that she was more important."

"She is more important to me. She means everything to me."

"Yes, we know that. Go and tell her!" Sirius said, but James didn't move.

"No, I can't. She won't want to speak to me. If I were her, I wouldn't want to speak to me. Didn't you hear the horrible words I said to her?"

"She'll forgive you. You didn't mean them," Remus said.

"But she thinks I'm arrogant and selfish. She said that. She thinks of me the same way Snape does, you guys."

"James," Sirius said, "You didn't mean what you said; I'll bet my savings that she didn't mean what she said either. So stuff away your pride and tell her your sorry."

"Why do I always have to apologize? Don't you guys notice that I am always the one that pleads for her forgiveness? Am I ever going to be right?"

"No," Sirius said bluntly. James looked at him with shock.

"No? Never? I'll never be right? Ever?"

"No. Here's the difference between you and her. You are incredibly stubborn and want to be right all the time. You are at times overly competitive, say for example the seven day a week Quidditch practices guaranteeing your win. 

"Lily, on the other hand, is also stubborn and competitive. The difference lies in the fact that Lily has to be right, all the time. I know to you she's perfect in every way, but if you want to marry her you're going to have to admit to the fact that from here on out, you are always wrong and she is always right. Luckily for you, my friend, she's right 99 times out of 100. 

"And you're going to have to realize that she demands attention. You should see the way her parents are with her. She could puke five feet out and they would smile and be so proud. She's used to being adored, James. And until this year, that's what you did. It was sickening and gross, to tell you the truth, but that's what you did. There's nothing wrong with it, James. That's how it should be. You should adore the person you love, treat her like a goddess, make her feel as though she was walking on air, because that's love."

James looked at him for a while, and thought. "Where did you hear that?" James asked him.

"My father told me. Said that's how it should be when I find the right girl. And that's how I know that Lily is right for you. Hell, everyone in the school knows that. You just have to be wrong, that's it. She's already right most of the time anyway, so there's no worries. Just tell her your sorry, like you really are. You haven't slept or eaten, or said anything nice to anybody since Tuesday because you've been kicking yourself the entire time."

James stood up and paced around the chair. "I'm just afraid that she won't want me back. What if she doesn't want me? What of that? God I'll be so miserable without her."

"I doubt that will happen. But if it does, then at least you know you tried. She'd be crazy not to take you back."

James nodded his head and sighed with relief. "You're right, Sirius. Right about everything. I just have to suck it up and be a man. I'm going to tell her. I'll tell her everything." He started to walk upstairs but Sirius and Remus called after him.

"James, it's one in the morning. You should tell her when she's awake, when she's more receptive and aware of her surroundings," Remus said to him. James started walking back down, already starting to feel better about his decision.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe I'll go and see the elves in the kitchens. I'm starving."

"We'll come with you," Sirius said. James started walking for the door, the weight on his shoulders nearly gone, but when he went to push the portrait open....

"Lily," James said surprised. Remus and Sirius looked too. Lily was leaning on the wall inside the alcove of the entrance to the Common Room.

"How long have you been standing there?" Sirius asked. She looked like she had been crying, but she didn't look very sad or angry.

"A while," she answered.

"Oh," Sirius said. He looked at Remus, who looked at him and they both decided to go some place else. The moment they left, Lily ran to James and threw her arms around him.

"I had no idea that Snape had planned that, and I don't think your arrogant or selfish, and I don't always have to be right all the time, and I saw your match, I just wasn't in the stands. It's just that I wanted to see you so bad and you didn't see me and I love you so much that I just couldn't stand that you were with your team more than me, but I know you didn't mean it, and you didn't mean what you said, and I didn't mean what I said, and I do want to marry you and live with you for all of time and I never want to fight with you ever again, because I really don't like fighting with you, because I love you so much," she said all of this very fast, as if it were one sentence. The entire time he just looked at her with that same adoration that Sirius had described, not saying a word.

"And I'm sorry that I boss you around, I don't mean to," she continued, but James put his finger to her lips and smiled.

"I want you to be the boss of me. I don't mind it. I just said it because I didn't have anything else to say. I'm so sorry for everything."

"Me too." They stood there staring into each other's eyes for several minutes, so grateful and happy that they had resolved everything.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked her with a smile.

"Yeah," she said grinning even wider than he.


	18. Christmas Meetings

***The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn't to be sold, reproduced or taken as true. Characters and locations belong to J.K.Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.***

Author's Note: I know it took me forever and a decade to post this one, but it's the longest so far. Be ready for romance and "mush" because there is tons, but hey this is a "humor/romance" story and 'every legend has a beginning...'

Part Five: Christmas Meetings

"Always leave your family on good terms; you never know what the future will bring."

"Right. We all know what we're doing, yes?" James asked Sirius, Remus and Peter.

"I'm confused about one thing," Peter said.

"What?" James asked.

"Well, you and Sirius are going in, Remus is holding the camera, and I am...?"

"You're the distraction. If anyone asks about us, you tell them something," James said.

"Tell them what?"

"Lie, Peter. Just lie. Tell them we're out tobogganing for all I care, just lie."

"But make sure you lie consistently," Sirius told him, "otherwise they'll know you're hiding something." 

Peter scratched his head, "And what does Lily have to do with all of this?"

"She's playing cover Peter. If anyone comes near the three of us, she'll do something drastic," Remus told him. "Are you clear on everything now?"

He nodded his head but still looked confused. James was satisfied with it so he left with Remus and Sirius.

"James, are you sure you know how this thing works?" Remus asked as he examined the camera from every angle.

"Yes I know how it works. Don't your parents have a camera like this?" he asked.

"No. How does it work?"

James turned and took the camera out of Remus's hands.

"It records moving images and voices magically. All you have to do is look into this rod," he said pointing to the eyepiece, "press this black button and the images are recorded. This way we can chronicle everything."

"And why do we want to record this?" Sirius asked, "Isn't this evidence? If someone gets a hold of it, let's use Snape as an example, can't they play it for Dumbledore?"

"Why are you worrying all of a sudden? And it's protected. Only I can clear it, as it's mine. Just point it at us, Remus," James said.

"James," Sirius said again, "Why are we recording this?"

"Because it's fun. You know, something that causes great amusement. We can watch it when we're old and feeble and laugh about it. Just record it."

No one argued with him. The three began their way downstairs silently. James tiptoed to the corner and peered around it.

"The coast is clear," he told them. Remus started to record. He felt very funny holding the camera and watching the scene in black and white. It made him laugh. Sirius looked at him oddly, which made Remus laugh more.

"What is so funny?" James asked.

"This," Remus chuckled. "You two just look weird. So," Remus said trying to sound important, "How do you feel about this mission, Sirius?"

Suddenly Sirius found the fun of it all. He smiled and stared into the camera.

"Well, Mr. Lupin, we are here today to recover something precious that was taken from us. It all started a few months ago, you see. My...uh...comrade, Mr. Potter here," Sirius said as he pulled James into the camera's view, "and I were out for a little jaunt when out of no where Filch and his stupid, little cat popped around the corner on us. It was then, Mr. Lupin, that he took our map. Isn't that right Mr. Potter?"

James who was amazed at their stupidity and immaturity laughed. "Well," he said, "Yes that sounds about right. We're going to get it back though. That map means a lot to me. We're going to steal it back!" James said with gusto. 

Remus zoomed in on James's teeth so he could only see his lips moving as he talked. Remus found it hard to keep a straight face.

"So," Remus interrupted, "James, why don't you tell us about these pearly whites of yours. This is a very new thing with you. Why don't you tell the audience about this?"

"Later, but now we have to get our map back."

"No, tell us now," Remus insisted as he zoomed in on his upper teeth.

"Remus, we have to go now," James insisted.

"Okay, okay. Why don't you tell the viewers what we're doing. Take us through step by step."

Remus zoomed out so he could see James's entire face.

"Alright. We are headed to Filch's office to get the map. I am going in under the cover of the Invisibility cloak. Then, thanks to Remus, I will put this sleeping drought," James pulled a small vial of clear liquid from his cloak pocket and showed it to the camera; Remus zoomed in on it, "into his drink. This will cause his little eyes to droop, giving us time to search for the map. How's that, Remus?"

"Excellent. Now, I'm going to follow behind the two of you. Just carry on as if I'm not here," Remus said joyfully as he skipped down the hallway after them. James rolled his eyes; he had created a monster. James held up his hand to the camera, then raised his finger to his lips.

Instinctively, the three of them flattened themselves against the wall. James took a mirror out of his pocket and carefully eased it around the next corner; no one was there. James looked at the other two and nodded. They each skulked around the wall's edge and crept down the corridor. Filch's office was the first to the right. If they were lucky, then they wouldn't have to use the drought. Just before they reached the door, James took the cloak out of his pocket, put it on, and looked in the office. Filch was there; a minor setback. 

James moved back a long the wall, took off his hood and looked at the other two and nodded. Remus was filming everything. James quietly took the vial out of his pocket, removed the cork, put his hood back over his head, and ever so silently walked into the office.

Filch was looking at some poor student's file, cursing all the while. On his desk was a goblet full of wine. James inched forward.

"Stupid prats! Spitballs on all the ceilings. They'll pay!" he said. He looked like he was going for his wine. It was now or never.

While Filch was reading the file and reaching for his drink, James poured the potion into his wine then waited.

Filch downed the drink in one gulp. Then his eyes started to sag. The file he was holding dropped to the floor as his arm fell. He was asleep.

"Sirius," James said. Sirius came into the room and Remus followed, rolling film.

"Out like a light," Sirius commented as he saw Filch leaning back in his chair, feet on the table.

"Alright, so where did he put it?" James asked himself as he looked at the many filing cabinets in the office. He first walked over to the one nearest to the door. He opened a drawer and looked inside.

"Well?" Sirius asked.

"Well," James said smirking slightly, "There's a huge file on us. Actually you and I share the entire drawer."

"Makes you feel all warm and tingly inside doesn't it?" Sirius asked him. James smiled. 

"So do you think Filch has the map in there, as it's our file?"

"I'm looking for it," James said as he fingered through the many folders and papers. Sirius began looking in another possible location. Remus filmed Filch snoring.

"It's not in either one of our files," James said as he shut the filing cabinet.

"It's not in any of these either. Let's try that one," Sirius said pointing to a different cabinet. James nodded his head and went over to it. He pulled on the handle only it wouldn't budge. James whipped out his wand.

"Alohomora," he said pointing it to the key hole, but it didn't open. "It must be in here," James said, "We have to open this."

"Yeah, but it's locked. How are you going to get in?" Remus asked.

James looked at him, which was through the camera lens, "Remus, when magic fails you, there's only one thing you can do," he said high and mightily, "Pull really hard." Remus smiled.

He grabbed the metal handle and yanked as hard as he could. James was red in the face before he let go of it.

"James," Remus said, "maybe you should look for the key."

"Well if we can't find the map then how long is it going to take to find the damn key?"

"Maybe I should try to open this confounded thing," Sirius said pulling up his sleeves. "I have more...."

"Muscle," James finished for him. 

"Yes," Sirius said, glad that James wasn't offended by it. He walked up to the cabinet, gripped the handle with both hands, took a deep breath and pulled. He pulled and pulled and pulled until his face looked like a radish. But Sirius wasn't going to give up. He put his foot on the cabinet so he had more force and kept pulling. Then, without warning, the handle detached and Sirius, who was still pulling mightily, flew backwards and fell into Filch's lap. Remus zoomed in the scene.

Filch stirred. Sirius was frozen. For a few seconds each of them didn't even breath. Filch snored loudly and put his arm around Sirius' neck. James had never seen Sirius look more terrified, even when he had a snake around his neck back when they were in elementary school. 

"Help me," Sirius said feebly and in a higher pitch voice than he was accustomed to using. Trying desperately not to burst out laughing, James walked over to him and tried to take off Filch's arm from around Sirius's neck. Filch, however, wanted to have Sirius's head there.

"This is rich," Remus sniggered as he zoomed in on the scene. Filch was resting his chin on the top of Sirius's head and clutched him in his arm. Then Filch smiled. None of them wanted to know what he was dreaming about.

James eventually freed Sirius from the caretaker's grasp but not without work. Sirius was so very grateful that hugged James, which was unexpected then went to the cabinet again.

"Great, so the handle's busted. I know it has to be in here. But how are we going to get in now that your great muscular prowess has taken off the only means of getting into this thing?"

"There's no need to get all weird on me, James," Sirius said, "We'll figure something out. This is what we do best; get in and out of trouble. So let's just think about it." And so they thought and thought and thought.

"I got it," James said, "We'll wedge it. We need something long, narrow, and strong."

"Like a crowbar," Remus said.

"A what?" the both asked.

"Never mind," he said. "Hey, wouldn't it be easier to just make a new map?" James looked at him as if he had been deeply wounded.

"How can you replace that? How heartless can you be? You can't just replace something like the map, Remus. If you had a kid and you lost him, would you just go out and replace him? NO! I am not getting or replacing this map. Is that alright with you?"

"You think of the map as a kid?" Sirius asked.

"No," James said as if the concept were purely ridiculous, "It was an example. Now, we need something to wedge this thing. Sirius look for something to use." So they both set out to find a rod but the only thing they could come by were their wands. Having no other options, James tried to pry open the cabinet with his fingers; Sirius and Remus just watched.

"I think he's gone off his rocker," Sirius mumbled to Remus who nodded.

"Come on," James kept saying, "open up. You know you want to open up. I'm not going to hurt you little guy."

Filch snored loudly and started to move uncomfortably in his chair.

"He's waking up!" Sirius whispered loudly but James didn't care.

Sirius walked over to James, grabbed him and yanked him away. But of course James resisted. He tried to hang onto the cabinet, only his fingers were sweaty so he slipped off. He fought desperately to free himself from Sirius's clutches but he was much too strong.

"James we have to let it go," Sirius whispered to him. If he could only look for it a while longer...

"Who's there?" Filch said suddenly. James and Sirius hit the floor and covered themselves with the cloak; Remus ditched the office completely. Filch stood up and looked around. James and Sirius held their breath.

"I smell TROUBLE!" Filch yelled as he walked around. If he stepped on either James or Sirius, they were as good as gone. Luckily, though, he didn't. He seemed to have over looked the missing handle on one of his filing cabinets, which James was very thankful for.

Filch sat back down in his chair, propped his feet on his desk and watched. James rose slowly from the floor to look at him. Sirius rose with him then started to walk on hands and knees out of the office, pulling James by the ear so that he would follow. Once out they stood up and leaned on the wall. Sirius moved out of the cloaks protection and started to walk back to Gryffindor tower. But then he realized that he was going alone. He turned around but didn't see James. Sirius walked back to the office and felt along the wall, but it was just wall, no James. Sirius started to panic. Very boldly, he quickly looked inside. In those fractions of a second he saw a bit of old parchment under Filch's feet on the desk, and inches from it were two fingers suspended in midair.

"Why are you still here?" Remus whispered as he tapped Sirius on the shoulder. Sirius looked at him and pointed into the office while mouthing "James." Sirius whipped out his wand and eased around the corner. The fingers were now on the parchment and if Sirius wasn't mistaken, they were pulling.

"Carnum inflamare," Sirius whispered as he pointed his wand in the far corner of the office. Instantly flames erupted from the spot. Filch got up and ran to the flames trying to put it out with his jacket. Sirius ran in, grabbed the spot he assumed was James and pulled. The suspended fingers snatched the parchment and then disappeared. Still holding on to James, he rushed out of the office and sprinted down the corridor with Remus, who was still filming, in tow.

"Did you get it?" Lily asked excitedly as the three of them emerged from the stairs. Out of breath from the fast run, they nodded. James held out his hand for her to take the map. She snatched it, took out her wand and said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," as she tapped it.

The three of them stared at her, smiling. Lily, however, did not even raise a corner of her mouth.

"What's wrong?" James asked as he straightened up.

"Maybe one of you have to tap it," she said but a bit panicked, "It's not opening for me." She handed it back to James who seized it. Remus and Sirius raised themselves too and watched James.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," James said clearly as he tapped the map; nothing happened. James just stared at it. Sirius grabbed it and tapped it, but still there was nothing. Then Remus took it, "Show me Severus Snape," he said; it remained blank. James covered his face with his hands and sank to his knees.

"James," Lily said, "are you alright?" She bent down to be level with him. He shook his head. Remus and Sirius leaned on a wall and slumped down on the ground.

"It's gone," James said, though it was muffled through his hands, "Our precious map-- gone."

"Well maybe you can make another one," she suggested. James shook his head violently.

"No," he said, "We cannot replace our map. It was like my first born. How can you replace that?" Sirius and Remus nodded in agreement; Lily fought a smile. She sat against the wall in between James and Sirius and tried to comfort them, but at the same time she kept thinking that they were acting ridiculously.

"It's going to be all alone. In Filch's office, alone. Forever," Sirius said. Lily tried not to giggle.

"Do you think it'll think we abandoned it?" James asked the other two.

"I hope not," Remus said, "We did try to get it back. I guess we'll just have to remember all the good times we had, you know?"

"Yeah," James and Sirius said together. Lily covered her mouth, but sniggered. The three looked at her with blank expressions.

"What's so funny?" James asked her.

"You make it sound like the map was your child," Lily said.

"Haven't you been listening to us?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, but there is a bit of a difference between a map and a child, you guys."

"Well," James said to her, "We did create it. At first it was just a large piece of parchment, then we drew the sketch of the castle, and fed it...information. We were up with it at night taking care of it. One of us was always holding onto it."

Lily kept wondering when one of them was going to laugh at how silly they were all being, but they didn't. James was serious, as were the other two. The three of them were bordering on tears. She took James's hand and tried to comfort him by saying that the map would be safe.

"Let's go back to the tower, okay?" She asked them. She stood up and stared down at the three of them. They looked miserable. Remus was the first to stand, then Sirius and last was James. "Come on," she said, "It's late." She took James by the hand and led him back up to the tower; he looked as though he was in a trance.

Once there Peter came to them looking happy, but the four frowned back at him.

"You didn't get it, did you?" Peter asked. They shook their heads. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," James said, "Just remember how good the map was to us, I guess. The time we had with it was precious. I think we should take some time for the map; mourn the loss of a very dear friend." He walked over to a couch and sat down with Lily and Sirius next to him. They were silent until...

"Who is Jade talking to?" Sirius asked as he leaned forward to try to get a better look. Lily looked over at Sirius then to Jade.

"I think that's Geoff Martin," Lily said, "but I'm not sure. Why?"

Sirius stared at Geoff. He was smiling at Jade and she was smiling back. And for some reason Sirius got angry. Just then a very hyper seventh year girl came up to them. She had pretty eyes, and spiky brown hair.

"Are you two feeling alright?" she asked James and Sirius. 

"They'll be fine, Summer," Lily said to her. She smiled and started to walk away, but Sirius stopped her.

"Summer?" he said, she turned around and smiled prettily.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Do you know anything about Geoff Martin?" Sirius knew that Summer Dale was very up on all the gossip and knew most everything about everyone. 

She seemed very flattered by the question. She sat next to him on the couch.

"Yes. What do you want to know?"

"Well, tell me about him. What year is he in?"

"Sixth. He was going out with Marcy last year but she dumped him because he was flirting with other girls. He lives in Birmingham with his father over the summer holidays and sees his mother in London over Christmas and Easter. They got divorced when he was five, very sad. He kinda wants to play beater some time, but after you leave when there's a spot on the team. As far as I know he's been interested in Jade for quite some time and I think he's hitting on her right now."

Sirius tightened his fists and glared at the back of Geoff's head. "Sixth year, eh? A year younger than her, eh? Isn't he a bit pudgy around the middle?"

Summer looked at him closely, "I don't think so. Let me check on that for you." She got up and walked towards Geoff and Jade. Then she started to converse with them. Lily squeezed James's hand tightly and smiled.

"Look at her," Sirius said about Jade, "What's so interesting about him? I thought she was in love with me."

"So it's bad for her to talk to someone else other than you?" Lily asked him.

"Yes," Sirius said.

"But you said you didn't like her like that. Remember?" James said.

"He's definitely hitting on her and he isn't fat," Summer said to Sirius then walked out of the common room.

"Why don't you go and talk to her?" Lily suggested.

"She's been ignoring me for the past few weeks," Sirius said.

"And...?" James said. Sirius got up and walked over to Jade huffing and puffing the entire time. "Jade's doing all of this on purpose isn't she?" James asked Lily.

"You can't say a word to him about it."

"I won't," he said smiling, "It's pretty funny just watching him squirm."

"Hey I wanted to ask you something," Lily said. She moved herself so that she was facing him. She took his hands and smiled nervously at him.

"What?" he said. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

"I don't want you to freak out or anything, it's just something I was wondering about."

"What is it?"

"Well," she said, "I was wondering if you would come, that is if you wanted to, to my house over Christmas this year and meet my family." She smiled brightly at him. James didn't know what to say. He stared at her with a fixed expression for several seconds. "Well?" she asked.

"Um," he said. "I....Well.....it's just that...." he squinted at her; she was still smiling hopefully. "Your parents, meet your parents?" he asked. She nodded. "Well..." he kept saying. He really needed to consult with Sirius on this one. He had heard about her parents from him and they sounded a bit protective of their daughter and he would be the big, bad, boyfriend from hell; he could just see it. "How long?" he asked.

"Oh I don't know," she said, "A week?"

"A week!" he said, "Lily I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. A week?"

"Oh come on, James. I really want you to meet them. They'll love you. I just know it."

"But I don't know that a week is a good idea. Have you asked them about this?"

"Just my mother."

"And your father? Does he know?"

Lily shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "Not yet. But let's not think about that. Please James. Please come home with me. I want to show you to all of my family at home. Please. You're going to meet them anyways so you might as well just get it over with now," she pleaded.

"I don't know Lily. Let me think about it for a few days, alright?" She looked somewhat disappointed but nodded.

"Alright. You promise you'll think it over?"

"I promise."

"She hates me," Sirius said suddenly as he came up to them. "She didn't even want to look at me. She just ignored me like I wasn't even there. She agreed to be friends! Now she hates me." He slumped down on the couch and crossed his arms in a huff. "Look," he said staring at Jade, "She's still flirting with the sixth year. This is outrageous. I can't believe I'm even watching this. You'd think she would have known what Summer was talking about. He cheats on his girlfriends. She deserves better than that slimeball."

"Let's go somewhere," James said to Lily, still clutching her hands.

She smiled and looked at him, "Sounds good to me."

"Are you two going to go make-out now?" Sirius asked.

Lily turned around to face him, "You know Sirius, you should try to phrase your sentences better."

"Should I?" he asked smirking at her, "Isn't that what you're going to do? How else do you phrase that?"

She shook her head at him, pulled James off the couch and led him out of the common room. James was smiling the entire time and winked at Sirius just before he disappeared from view.

  
  


The next morning was the last Monday before Christmas. Hagrid had pulled out all the stops and had gathered the biggest evergreens he could find. Professor Flitwick was decorating the trees with golden tinsel that changed colors in the breeze. Professor Gellar was looking especially lovely. She was dressed in pale green, satin robes and wore a small red poinsettia in her hair. She was hanging ornaments with Professor Wicks, who was rather flushed.

James and Sirius watched her for a while until she caught them staring at her; they turned away. Lily and Jade came into the Hall shortly thereafter talking quickly and laughing. When Sirius smiled at Jade she smirked and looked away from him.

"Did you see that?" he asked James, "She hates me." James rolled his eyes then said good morning to Lily who sat beside him.

"So have you thought about it?" she asked excitedly. 

"Not really. You only asked me yesterday. I thought I was going to have a few days before you bombarded me."

"Well I was just wondering," she said with a smile. Then she kissed him like she did at the party over the summer and he was glad that this time he was sitting.

"What are we wondering about?" Sirius asked. Before James could stop her, Lily opened her mouth.

"I wanted James to come with me for Christmas to meet my family," she blurted out. James shook his head at Sirius in a way that Lily couldn't see him.

"Oh really!" Sirius said sounding over joyed. James looked at him skeptically.

"Yeah. He says he wants a few days to think it over."

"And I do," James said.

"Well I think it's a great idea," Sirius said. Lily smiled at him, James frowned.

"Do you?" Lily asked. James shook his head at Sirius mouthing 'no' but Sirius grinned.

"Absolutely. He's going to have to meet them at some point and it's not like he's needed at our house."

"Thanks pal," James said, "When I want your opinion I'll ask for it."

"They're really nice people, the Evans's. They'll love you," Sirius said as if he hadn't heard what James just said. He was almost laughing at the panicked look on James's face. Lily turned back to James and rested her hands on his shoulders.

"Come on, baby. Please come with me. Please. It would mean so much," she moved her hands to frame his face, but he took them.

"I don't know," he said. Lily put out her bottom lip and drooped her eyes. "Don't give me the puppy look," he said, but she didn't stop. "Lily, stop it."

"Say yes, James, please come with me. I want to show you off."

"It's going to be the first Christmas without my parents," he said quietly.

"I know," she said sympathetically, "but it could be your first with me. Oh James, please come. Just for one week, then you can go spend the rest of it with Sirius." She stared ceaselessly into his eyes. He sighed and looked about the Hall.

"Well," he started. He looked back into her eyes; they were sparkling with hope and happiness. "Well, alright, but I am only doing this because I am nuts about you."

"Yes!" she squealed and threw her arms around him. James held her but looked at Sirius mouthing, "I hate you." Sirius grinned.

* * * * *

"James stand up please," Lily said the Saturday before he was to meet his future in-laws.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I want to see if I got your size right." Lily was holding a black coat in her hands and smiling from ear to ear as she showed it to him.

"What's that?" he asked.

"It's a coat. Muggles wear them. Now please try it on."

"I'm not a muggle."

"I know that, but it'll look good on you and I want to impress my father. So.." she said jiggling the expensive jacket in front of him. James got up and put it on.

"Perfect!" she said as she looked at him. "Now turn around." James obeyed her, though reluctantly, and turned around. Girls in the common room applauded for him. "See, they think you look very handsome. Now, about that hair."

"I have tried to fix it but it won't. There's no use in it. That's just how it's gonna be." But she wasn't satisfied. She whipped out a comb from her pocket and tired to fix his hair but nothing worked. She took the coat off of him, told him he could sit back down and went back up stairs.

"Nervous?" Remus asked him.

"Duh," James said. "Ten Galleons says her father wacks me on the head with a heavy object. Of course if that happens no one will be able to get the money, but you'll know why I don't come back."

"It's not going to be that bad," Sirius said casually, "They're pretty classy people. They loved me."

"No, they loved the alternate you. The Medical student in a tuxedo, they didn't actually know you. And you weren't proposing marriage."

"To their favorite daughter," Sirius added, which didn't make James feel any better about the next day. Lily, on the other hand, was very excited. She had bought James the coat, a blue tie, a white long sleeve shirt and had somehow acquired couplings. She had packed all her things in her trunk, had packed all of James's things in his trunk, and while she was in the mood, packed all of Sirius's things as well.

James hardly slept. What was awaiting him at the other side of the platform? He really didn't want to find out. He kept seeing himself make a wrong move. He had one nightmare that he was having dinner with Lily and her parents and he lost control of himself and put his hand on Lily's chest. He awoke with a start. "You have more common sense than that, James," he told himself. "Don't worry about it, you'll be fine," he kept whispering as he lay his head on the pillow and stared at the ceiling.

"James, it's time to get up!" Lily said as she ran into the boys dorm room and threw back his curtains. "Come on sleepy head," she said sweetly. She lay down next to him and ran her fingers through his black hair. "James," she whispered into his ear, "I know you can hear me. Please get up and get dressed."

James didn't move, but he could hear her.

"I'll sing to you," she said smiling. "Okay, you leave me no choice. 'James Potter, James Potter where are you? How do you do? I love you.'" James smiled into his pillow and she stopped singing. He turned on his side to look at her and grinned.

"You're crazy," he said to her. She smiled back and kissed him.

"So you've said. Are going to get up or am I going to have to drag you out of the castle in your cute little P.J.s?"

"Um," he yawned, "I'll get up in a bit. I had nightmares about today."

"Did you?"

"Yeah. In one of them I grabbed your chest while we were having dinner with your folks."

Lily laughed. "That's horrible."

"I know. It was pretty bad. So why don't you leave me here and I'll get dressed to impress. Alright?"

"Alright," she said. She inched closer to him, put her hand on his face and kissed him. And like he feared, he put his arm around her waist without even thinking about it.

"Lily, you're not supposed to be in here," Sirius said when he came to wake up James.

"Ignore him," James said to her before kissing again. 

"Yeah, ignore me. Fine. But I am only allowing this to go on so you can get it out of your system. They're won't be any snogging for the next week. It'll be good for the both of you; learn to control your animal impulses. That was the one good thing about you two on the break; no kissing. I have never met two people who kiss as much as you people. My parents aren't this bad. Any time, any place is good enough to be in a lip lock. God forbid the entire dormitory is watching you as they are right now."

Lily sat up suddenly and looked around; Sirius was beside himself with the giggles.

"I got you, I got you!" he sang at her as he danced in place. James rolled out the other side of the bed and pulled out the clothes Lily had spent so much time arranging. Lily stood up, hit Sirius's shoulder with a fake smile on her face and left.

The train ride home was very tense. James kept wiping his sweaty hands on a napkin and his face was so hot with nerves that his glasses fogged up. Lily kept telling him to relax but she might as well have said it in Pakistani because it didn't work.

Sirius thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen and only wished he had the camera with him so he could get James on film.

"Don't worry sweetheart," she said to him, slicking back his hair with her hand. "You'll do fine."

"Yeah," James said absently and high pitched.

When the train slowed down James's heart rate increased ten fold. Lily started to get excited and she squeezed James's hand especially hard.

"Are you ready?" she asked jovially. James wanted to say 'yes' but there was something lodged in his throat. If he was lucky, he thought, maybe it would kill him. He nodded instead. 

Once everyone unloaded their trunks and loaded the carts, they said good luck to James, who was so pale he was transparent. Sirius started to say goodbye when James grabbed his wrist tightly.

"Don't leave me," he said.

"James, you have to go with Lily now," Sirius said as if he was talking to a toddler.

"I know, but go through the barrier with me. Please Sirius. You have to do this with me." Sirius thought James looked too pathetic to go it alone, so he walked along side him and Lily through the barrier and they ended up in Norfolk. 

"There they are!" Lily screamed as she ran to her parents open arms. James stopped dead in his tracks. They looked so happy to see her, which was good for her, bad for him.

"I am so glad that you came with me," James mumbled to Sirius.

"Ah, that's what friends are for."

"Look at them. They act as if they hadn't seen her for a decade," James observed.

"Remind you of anyone?" Sirius asked James, winking.

"There will be none of that going on," James said.

"That's for sure." Just then Lily pointed to James. He froze. 

"They're coming over," he whispered through gritted teeth trying to look friendly to them.

"Yep," Sirius said casually.

"Well, Lily you're right," her mother said, "He is adorable." James felt his very pale face go very cherry red. Lily smiled, took James by the hand and introduced them.

"Mom, Dad, this is James Potter. James this is Mr. and Mrs. Evans."

"You can call me Amanda," Mrs. Evans said and she took James by the hand and shook it. "You seem nervous," she whispered; he smiled weakly.

Mr. Evans, as expected, didn't smile. He examined James from head to toe before formally shaking his hand. "So..." he began. "You're in love with my baby girl, eh?"

James didn't know what to say. He wanted to say yes, because that was the truth, but did he want to hear that? He decided to go with the truth.

"Yes sir. Very much," he said, he thought. He hoped that's what he said. They looked at him normally so he probably did say that.

"And you've both met Sirius all ready," Lily said showing Sirius to them. Sirius, having nothing to lose, was cool, confident and casual like always. He smiled and put his hand out in greeting.

"Oh yes, Sirius. Didn't recognize you without the tuxedo," Amanda said.

Robert walked up to him and slapped him on the shoulder as if greeting an old friend. "Sirius. The brightest star in the sky, correct?" Sirius smiled greater than before.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess so."

"The symbol for hope when all else is lost," Robert said.

"Is that right? Wow, I thought my mom just liked the sound of it. It was so nice seeing you two again. I have to leave, my parents are waiting."

"See you soon Sirius," Amanda said. Lily winked and waved goodbye as did Robert. James wanted to grab him and make him stay. But Sirius left through the barrier without looking back. Maybe, James thought, if her father liked Sirius so much he would like him just as well. James smiled at Robert, but the gesture wasn't returned.

"Amanda, Lily, why don't you two go a head to the car while Potter and I carry the luggage." James cast a desperate look to Lily who gave him two thumbs up. 

Robert stacked Lily's stuff onto James cart and made him push it to the parking lot. He didn't complain, though he thought of a few things to say. But should he start a conversation?

"What kind of grades do you get?" he asked suddenly.

"I'm in the top one percent of my class, sir," James replied. Robert didn't seem impressed. James looked for Lily in the parking lot but didn't see her. This was going to be the longest week of his life, he thought, though it wasn't.

"Play any sports?" he asked.

"Yes I do. I'm captain of the house Quidditch team, sir."

"Quidditch? The broom game?"

James wouldn't call it the broom game, but he was close enough. "Yeah, that's it."

"What are you going to do after you graduate?" Robert asked. James didn't know this answer. He had given it thought but not that much.

"I don't know yet. Something important but not time consuming. I want to spend most of my time with Lily." Oh that was a good answer, he thought to himself. Perhaps he had more good answers in him.

"Have you ever slept with my daughter?" Mr. Evans asked rather blatantly. James was taken aback.

"No," he said truthfully, "No sir I have not. No way. Never. I haven't even thought about it." Okay that was a lie, James. Great, you've been talking to your future father-in-law for two minutes and you have already laid a huge fib. Great work. I only hope he can't read minds.

Mr. Evans looked at him suspiciously. James tried to look wholesome.

"What took you two so long?" Amanda asked. They had reached the car. James breathed again. 

"Oh, just having a chat with the boy," Robert told his wife. The boy? James wasn't a 'boy' he was a man by wizarding standards. But he was too thankful to be at the car to give it another thought. James carefully loaded his and Lily's trunks into the trunk of the car. She smiled at him and led him to the back seat.

"Why don't you sit with your mother in the front, Princess. I'll keep Jimmy here company." 

"It's James. I hate the name 'Jimmy,'" he corrected him.

"Is that right?" Robert asked skeptically. Lily watched with bated breath.

"Yes, that's right. I go by 'James' nothing else." Robert looked at him hard, but James swore he saw him smirk.

"Alright, James, get in." Robert opened the back door and slid inside, Lily smiled at James from the front then got in herself. He took a deep breath, told himself everything was going to be fine, and got in. And they were off to Lily's house for a whole week.

"James?" Mrs. Evans said, "Lily tells us you're an only child."

"Yeah, I am."

"You don't know how lucky you are," Lily said to him.

"Were you spoiled?" Robert asked harshly. James looked at him thoughtfully.

"I don't think so. No," he replied slowly.

"I hate it when people spoil their children. Doesn't prepare them for the real world. Do you want children?" Oh no. Why did he have to ask questions like this? He did want children, but do you say that to him? Well, that truth thing worked before, so he tried it again.

"Yes I do. I really love kids," James said smiling.

"They're messy you know. Time consuming, expensive, keep you up all night, they get their jelly hands all over everything, they can be smelly, and then they can get sick and everything get's ten times worse. But there are some moments when you just look into those green eyes and your heart melts. Lily was the perfect baby. My perfect baby," he said to himself. Lily turned back and smiled at him. Robert took her hand and smiled back.

"There was a time," he continued, "when Lily was asleep on my chest and I put my hand on her soft head. I remember thinking at that moment, 'this is what life is all about.'" He smiled at his own thought then quickly looked at James with the same skepticism. "Do you think you'll be a good father?"

"Yeah. I hope so. I mean that won't happen for a while, but when it does...I think I will," he said with all honesty. Robert seemed satisfied with the answer and didn't ask James anymore questions in the car-which James was eternally grateful for.

When they pulled up to the long driveway James soon saw that being a doctor in the muggle world paid well. The Evans's house was more like a manor than anything. Tall trees lined the cement driveway which winded up to the house. The front porch was made of rustic brick, and tall windows spotted the clean white walls. Amanda opened the garage electrically and pulled the Mercedes inside. There were two other cars parked there, one which really caught James's eye. It was small and black, and the decoration on the back trunk had a tiny black horse on a yellow background. 

"That's a nice machine," James said looking at it as he got out of the car.

"Yes, that's my beauty. I spent forever saving for it. Do you know much about cars?" he asked James.

"Not much. We travel differently," James explained.

"It's a Ferrari. An Italian automobile; finest car in the world. I hardly drive it, but when I do..." he said with a huge grin. "I'll take you out in it."

Lily smiled at James and gave him a thumbs up. She went in the house with her mother, leaving James and her father to get the luggage. James had never been in a muggle house before. He expected something small and simple with electric outlets and funny contraptions inside; he was wrong. Lily's house was more magnificent on the inside than on the outside. The floor was wood paneling of the deepest red wood. The ceiling was tall and speckled with sky lights which allowed the bright sun shine to pour in. It was wonderfully decorated as well. There were many family photographs; they looked like a happy family. Lily had a shrine that made up the hallway. There were at least a dozen pictures of her at different ages, and some pictures of a blonde girl, who wasn't very pretty, that he assumed to be Lily's sister.

"This is our humble abode," Mr. Evans said. Yeah, abode alright, but not humble, James thought. It was clear they were very wealthy, but so were James's parents. He knew that Mr. Evans worked very hard and deserved all that he had, as did his father, so he didn't give it another thought.

"Lily," Amanda said, "Why don't you show him around," she suggested. Lily smiled, took James by the hand and pulled him through the house. Once out of ear shot she began to converse with him.

"You're doing great!" she whispered excitedly.

"I feel like I'm being interrogated," James said.

"You are, but you're answering all of his questions perfectly. I think he likes you. It'll take a little while for him to warm up to the idea though. He definitely likes you."

"Why do you think that?" James asked.

"Correcting him about your name, for one. He liked that. It means you stand up for yourself. Vernon failed that test. And being so honest about babies, he liked that too. And you admired his Ferrari when you don't know squat about cars. Oh yeah, you're doing great!"

James breathed again and felt his face going back to normal temperature.

"What else do you think he'll ask?"

"Gosh I don't know. I've never brought my fiancé home before. Just answer him honestly as you have been and you'll be fine. Let me show you around. I don't know what room they want you to stay in but I'll show you everything else. This," she said stopping at a closed door, "is my sister's room. Do you want to see it?"

"You want to show me, don't you?" he asked.

"Yeah I do," she said slyly as she reached for the door knob. The room was very neat and clean. Everything was in it's proper place; the mirror was directly centered with the chest of drawers which was in a perfect line with the bed. The sheet's on the bed were tight and pressed, with two pillows on each side and a pillow centered in between them. There were no photographs in the room.

"It's clean," James said.

"No," Lily remarked quickly shaking her head, "It's sterile. Everything is in order; in symmetry. It's cold. It reflects her personality. Petunia is cold, orderly, and sterile in many ways."

"Alright," James said. He didn't really know what else to say to that, so he didn't continue.

"You want to see my room?" she asked brightly. He didn't have time to answer; Lily grabbed his hand and jerked him through the house to her room. It was very different from her sister's.

"You like blue?" he asked facetiously. She smiled. The walls were a pale powder blue, as were her blankets and sheets. Unlike Petunia, she had posters and photographs all over the walls. She had small trinkets hanging from her oval mirror and a few stuffed animals on the bed pillows. Lily pulled him in the room and shut the door behind him.

"Is that the guy that you like so much? The singer in the band?" James said as he pointed to one of her many posters.

"That's John Lennon; one of the greatest musicians of all time. He was in the Beatles. They were huge, and still are for that matter, in Britain and America. Do you want to hear a record?"

"Sure. Don't you think he kinda...I don't know..."

"Yeah I do. He kinda looks like you. But he's not nearly as handsome as you are," she said smiling and snatching his hands.

"I see," he said smiling greatly and pulling her closer to him. He went to kiss her lips just as the door opened and admitted Mr. Evans. Lily pushed James harder than she intended. 

"Daddy," she said hastily. He didn't look thrilled with the scene. Actually he didn't look happy at all. Lily smiled at him but that didn't work.

"You," he said pointing at James.

"Yes sir?" he asked smiling.

"Come with me."

"Okay," he said without complaint. He really wished he could have talked to his father about the whole thing before it happened-- he would have had great advice, having gone through the same thing.

"You weren't going to kiss her in her bedroom with the door closed, were you?" he asked once they were walking down the hall again.

"Well," James started nervously.

"Because that would be really stupid. Do you know that I hunt, Mr. Potter? I have a entire room filled with prey that I have killed. I would hate to add your head to my wall, James," he said. He was clearly trying to intimidate him, and for all intensive purposes it was working. James nodded and opened his mouth to say something but Mr. Evans cut him off.

"Oh and by the way, why were you kissing my baby girl in a bathroom in the middle of the night causing her to get a detention?"

"Uh," James said. He tried to think of something. Anything would do, say anything James just don't stare at him! "Well, that's a long story, sir."

"Humor me."

"Well," he was going to have to lie. But what was he going to say? Then to his great relief Lily came after them.

"You're not trying to scare him, are you Daddy?" she asked kissing her father's cheek, "Because I went to kiss him, he didn't advance on me. I promise." Mr. Evans smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulder. James couldn't help thinking that Lily had her father wrapped around her pinky finger. Anything she did was a huge accomplishment, and even if she had done something bad it was never her fault in her father's eyes.

Lily's mother, on the other hand, was very warm and receptive to him. She kept smiling and giggling like a little girl when ever she set eyes on him.

"I knew Lily always had great taste. You're so cute!" she would say occasionally before she kissed his cheek and made him go red all over. 

The first night in the house was quite unnerving. At around eight after they had dinner (James didn't eat much) the three of them showed him to his room. It was the room farthest from Lily's, he noticed rather quickly, and was actually quite nice inside. There were two large windows which opened up into the garden of the back yard. The bed was quite large and there was a nice bathroom and huge walk in closet. It was perfect and very comfortable until...

"W-What is that?" James asked pointing to the opposite wall.

"Oh yes," Mr. Evans smiled with relish, "He was the hardest to get. I spent all week hunting this one down. He ran as fast as he could, but I shot him with my rifle and he fell to the ground with a thud. What do you think?" he asked proudly as raised his hand to a stag's head on a mount.

James felt lightheaded and thought he was going to faint. Just looking at the poor creature on the wall like that was enough to make anyone want to cry. But James felt very weird about it, as if it was his head on the wall. He brushed his hand over his neck for his own mental stability, then leaned on the wall so he didn't hit the floor.

"I don't like hunting, sir," James said quietly. Then it struck Lily.

"Maybe James could stay in the room upstairs," she suggested.

"You don't like hunting? Why the hell not?" Robert asked as if he didn't hear Lily.

"It's creepy. It feel's like he's looking at me."

"Nonsense. He's deader than a doornail. I killed him two years ago, look," he took his hand and hit the stag on the head. James clutched the wall. "See, dead this one is. I have a room full of trophies like this one. I actually had a whole one stuffed once. You want to see?"

"No," James said, "I don't." But Mr. Evans didn't care. He walked over to James, pulled him by the collar of his shirt, and dragged him to the library. Lily ran after them and attempted to throw her father of his course, but it was useless.

"Ah, here it is," Robert said as he opened the double doors to the most horrid room James had ever laid eyes on. Inside were countless mounted heads of stags, each different from the next. In the corner of the room was an especially large one, in its entirety, stuffed and on display. There were hides displayed proudly on the wall like picture frames, a large deerskin on the floor in the center of the room, and a dozen bleached antlers above the fireplace.

James started to sweat heavily and breath shallowly. He wanted to close his eyes and run away but his eyes kept darting from head to head, antler to antler, and so forth. Mr. Evans didn't help the matter by telling James the story of how he had killed each of them in great detail. Lily took James's slippery hand and felt his pulse beating rapidly.

"Daddy, could we do this another time please?" she asked. He looked supremely disappointed but did what he was requested to do. Lily led James back his room and shut the door.

"I'll take it down," she said pointing to the buck.

"You never told me he hunted," James said as he wiped the perspiration from his forehead.

"I never thought about it. I'm so sorry, I didn't think about how you would react to it." She took the head off the wall and walked it out of the room. James waved to it as it passed, like it was an old friend. "So now it's gone. Remember you're human," she told him.

"I know that. But sometimes I'm what your father sees as sport. It's like it's my head on the wall. He wants to kill me, Lily, I know he does."

"No he doesn't," she said soothingly as she put her arms around him. "No he doesn't. He just sees you as a threat, that's all. He hates the idea of me growing up and loving another man that isn't him. He's dreaded this since I learned to walk. He knew it was going to happen and now it's upset him because it has. It's not you that he hates, James. You're a great and wonderful man, it's impossible to hate you. It's just the concept of me falling in love and getting married that he fears. Don't worry about it, though, he'll love you very soon. Just give him time. It's very hard to give up a child."

James sighed and slumped on the end of the bed. He ran his fingers through his hair and laid back. "I suppose," he said to her. "And it's not impossible to hate anyone. Snape hates me, of course I hate him. I wonder who hated who first."

"Snape is...well...different and..." she broke off and waved her hands. She had grown to dislike Snape an awful lot after she found out the truth, but she didn't say it. She sat down next him and stroked his face.

"I hope your father doesn't come in here," he mumbled as he closed his eyes.

"Me too," she giggled.

* * * * *

Since there was no mounted head of his other self in the room, James slept very well. So well, as a matter of fact, that he didn't hear the doorbell ring throughout the entire house at nine in the morning. No, James was only interrupted by Lily rushing into the room, slamming his door behind her, jumping on his bed, and shaking him awake.

"What s'matter?" he asked groggily.

"Shhhh" she said. She pointed her hand to the door and locked it. Then she scrambled under his covers and held him tightly.

"Lily, what are you-- "

"Shhh!" she interrupted, pulling the covers over both their heads.

"Lily, if you father sees me in bed with you, he'll cut off my head and put it on his wall."

"He's not going to find out, don't worry," she whispered. She snuggled close to him and closed her eyes.

"Lily, what is going on?" he asked.

"Nothing, just go back to sleep."

"I can't with you all over me," he said.

"Well you'd better get used to it 'cause I like to be touching."

"Why are you in here?" he asked calmly, though he was anything but calm.

"Because I don't want to be out there. I love you, isn't that good enough?"

"And I love you too, but I gotta tell you that this is really making me nervous. Your dad threatened me yesterday when I tried to kiss you. Imagine how enraged he would be if he saw this. Now, please tell me what is going on out there that you don't want to be a part of." Lily raised her head from under his chin and looked at him.

"Something terrible has happened," she said sadly.

"What?"

"It wasn't supposed to happen, but it did and I am really upset about it."

"Lily, what is the problem?"

"Well there are two problems, really. One: my sister and her fat husband are here and two: they're staying here for the next week and a half," she said like an army had taken over her home.

"They can't be that bad," James said turning on his side.

"Ha, yeah they are. Just wait 'til you meet them, which is probably in a few moments. They'll hate you because you're a wizard. They won't be able to get past that."

"So what are we supposed to do, hide all day long?"

"Works for me," she said.

"You can't just hide when a problem arises you know?"

"I can for this one," she almost sang.

"Let's go out there and meet them," James said. Lily shook her head violently.

"Didn't you listen to Sirius about them? They're horrible people, James. Rude, mean, stubborn, rude, did I mention their terrible manners? When we were in Bermuda, a little girl got in Vernon's way, and he yelled at her. A little girl, she had to be five, and he yelled at her. He's horrible."

"So we're just going to stay here for a week and a half?" he asked.

"Yes."

James shook his head and chuckled. "Let me meet these horrible, mean, abusive people before I say garbage about them, alright?"

"Fine. But I know I'm going to say 'I told you so,'" she sang 

"Okay," James sang back. He threw his covers off himself, got up and went to his trunk.

"What are you going to wear?" she asked.

"Clothes," he said.

"Oh really? Not going to go in the buff? I know you're wearing clothes. What's the ensemble?"

"Shirt, pants, socks."

"James," she exasperated. She got up, walked over to him and pushed him out of the way. She pulled out a sweater and khaki pants and tossed them on the bed. "Where's you wand?" she asked.

"Why?"

"Because I want to change the color of your sweater," she replied as if he had asked a loony question.

"I like it this way. Why do you want to change it?"

"I want you to look as good as you can so I can show you off to my sister."

"I'm part of your competition now?" he said.

"Uh huh. Now where's your wand?"

James took it out of the trunk and rolled his eyes. She snatched it out of his hands, mumbled words under her breath and pointed the wand at his right eye.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Shhhh!" she said. Then she pulled the wand back; on the tip was a small glowing ball which she cast onto the sweater. "There," she said.

"Blue?" he said, "You changed it from black to baby blue? Lily I am not wearing that."

"It's the exact shade of your iris. Don't you know anything about fashion?"

"No. Change it back to black."

"James," she wined, "Please wear it. It'll bring out your pretty eyes. I'll wear a green sweater!"

"Lily don't manipulate me. The blue is too light."

Lily pointed his wand at the sweater and made it slightly, very slightly darker. Then she smiled at him. "I love you," she said sweetly.

"Yeah, yeah. Now leave so I can change."

"I'll turn around," she said as she smiled cheekily.

"No, leave. I don't want you peeking like I know you will."

"Oh it'll be fun. It'll be like were already married." She sat down on the bed and looked at him with a huge grin.

James took his sweater and pants and walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Lily heard him lock it. "You're going to hate them," she said to the closed door.

"You don't know that," he muffled through the door.

"Yes I do," she said twitting her fingers. "What are you doing in there? Even I don't take that long to get ready and I'm a girl. Hurry up!"

"Lily, patience is a virtue."

"It's not when your talking to a door," she told him. James unlocked it and walked out, though he didn't look happy with his appearance. Lily, however, loved how he looked. She jumped off excitedly and told him to turn around.

"You're simply adorable. I love the sweater."

"I hate it. And stop saying adorable."

"Ah, don't be sore. Be sore after you meet Vernon and Petunia. James you're very handsome, more handsome than Sirius is."

"I'm flattered," he said flatly. "Do I have to wear the sweater?"

"James, it brings out the color in your eyes. You just look so good in it, but if you don't want to wear it then I won't make you. Vernon is ugly, fat, and sloth like, and you are just the opposite. But if you don't want to look that good..."

"Fine," he sighed, "I'll wear it. Can we go now?"

She smiled and kissed him, "I love you."

"And I must love you to be jumping through all these hoops to impress people you hate." She took his hand and led him out of the room and down the hall. James could hear people talking and didn't think they sounded so bad.

"Good morning Princess," Mr. Evans said. He smiled at Lily and kissed her cheek then separated her hand from James's. "And hello to you," he said shortly to James.

But James didn't really notice Mr. Evans snideness towards him; he was preoccupied with the two pairs of eyes that were looking him over. 

"James," Mr. Evans said politely, "this is Lily's sister, Petunia and her husband Vernon." James couldn't help but notice that Mr. Evans said 'Lily's sister,' instead of 'my eldest daughter.' James extended his hand warmly to each of them, and they took it, though they looked afraid.

"It's nice to meet you," he said with a genuine smile.

"Yes," Petunia said with a skeptical smirk. Vernon grunted as though the concept was humorous. Lily looked at James and smiled at him, raising her eyebrows.

"So," Lily started moving over to the couch, pulling James with her, "why aren't you two with the Dursleys?" something she was very curious about.

"My parents are traveling in Italy, and Marge is- "

"With her dogs?" Lily interjected. Mr. Evans turned his laugh into a hacking cough. James didn't think it was that funny, as he wasn't present at the last meeting and never met Marge. Petunia looked daggers at her sister, Vernon matched it.

"Who would like some tea?" Mrs. Evans asked trying to end the unpleasantness. "James?"

"Sure. Thank you," he responded.

"Well," Petunia started as she glared at James, "Potter is it?"

"James Potter, yes," he said slowly. He began to think that Lily was right again.

"Where did you meet...her?" she asked in a false politeness. Now James agreed with Lily completely; her sister was a monster. Petunia stared at him as if he was a dangerous animal ready to strike. James stared right back.

"Lily, you mean? She does have a name. But I'm sure you knew that, or perhaps it slipped your mind. Well, I met her at school. One of the best days of my life, really." Lily smiled to herself.

The word 'school' sent a shiver up Petunia's spine. "School?" she asked.

"That's what I said. Where did you two meet up, since that's what we're discussing."

Vernon moved his hand to Petunia's knee and grinned. "Dinner party," he said.

"Oh really?" James said, but he wasn't interested.

"Yes. I was in college, business school actually, and a friend of mine took me to dinner and I met her there."

"How romantic," James said plainly. "What sort of business are you in?"

"Construction supplies, drills mostly. I'm eepected to make director in a short time. What are you planning on?" This was clearly turning into a competition. Lily took James's arm at which Petunia took Vernon's.

"I haven't made a decision yet," James said.

"Oh but he'll be able to get a job anywhere. Top student in the school," Lily added.

"Yes, Vernon was also in the top percent of his class, weren't you sweetums?" Petunia said to her husband.

Before he could answer Lily spoke, "James is captain of the school Quidditch team and has never lost a match."

"Vernon was the winner of the Chess Tournament," Petunia said.

"James is head boy at school."

"Vernon was voted most likely to succeed."

"James was voted most likely to be the next Minister of Magic," which was a lie.

"Vernon is going to head his own business some day."

"James saved someone's life and got a special award to the school."

"Vernon was-- "

"ENOUGH!" Mr. Evans yelled over the two girls. James and Vernon hadn't even moved while they were fighting it out. "It's far too early for this. I haven't had my coffee. Now, if we can all carry on like civilized people..."

"Tea's ready!" Mrs. Evans said jovially as she came from the kitchen. She was oblivious to the fact that her two daughters were quarreling. "Here you go honey," she said to James as she handed him a cup. She gave Petunia hers and Vernon and her husband coffee. She sat down next to her husband and smiled at all of them. "Now," she said cheerfully, "what were we talking about?"

* * * * *

To say that Lily and Petunia always had violent feelings for each other, is to say that Romeo and Juliet were never in love; it wasn't true. There was a time, a time that Lily could not remember, that they got along quite well. Petunia was the first born and was four years old when Lily was brought home from the hospital. She was initially very happy that she was a big sister, and wanted to hold Lily whenever her protective parents would allow it.

There were photos of this time, photos that were pasted in albums that lay on the shelves in the Evans's livingroom. It was the next afternoon that James opened the album. He smiled when he saw the small blonde girl holding his future bride tenderly in her arms. He walked over and sat in the couch and turned the next page. None of the pictures moved, which was a bit disappointing, but he looked at them with deep curiosity. There was one picture of the four of them on a bed. Robert and Amanda were snuggled together with Petunia in the center holding Lily. They were all smiling. 

The picture at the bottom of the page showed a backside view of the two girls. Petunia was holding Lily's hand and walking her down the hall. The caption bellow the picture read: Lily age one. The pictures that followed it were of the same nature. But these weren't two girls that hated each other, as they did now, they loved one another.

"You're looking at the album?" Mr. Evans said smiling.

"Yeah. You have a beautiful family, sir."

"Why thank you, James." He came and sat next to him and rested the album between them.

"They look so happy," he said looking at a picture, "why do they hate each other now?"

Mr. Evans looked into James's eyes and frowned, but not the kind of frown that showed displeasure, but one that showed thought.

"You know, I don't really remember why. It didn't happen suddenly, I know that. Lily was always very special, we could tell before she was born. Around age three, if memory serves me right, she started moving stuff just by looking at it. She only did it a few times, mind, but it really scared Petunia. Amanda and I were thrilled with her prodigy-like abilities; we were thinking of sending her to a school for the gifted, but they were all so far away from us. We didn't know that she was a wizard back then, but weren't surprised when we found out. I think Petunia showed her fear through negativity and hostility towards Lily. But, as I am sure you know, Lily isn't one to lie down and take it. She stands up for herself and can hold her own, always has. But I don't know when it started, the two of them hating each other like that. They're both so different and four years apart. Maybe that's it. And sometimes Lily would play some tricks on her," he chuckled silently, "but she never meant it badly." 

James turned the page to find a photo of Lily on the floor eating chocolate out of a mixing bowl; most of it didn't make it into her mouth. She looked four or five. Mr. Evans grinned at the image.

"She's so beautiful," James whispered.

"Yeah she is. She is more precious to me than anything in this world," he said looking at James.

"I understand. I feel the same way. I'd be lost without her, and it's not just because she bosses me around." Mr. Evans laughed.

"She can be pushy sometimes, can't she?" he asked. James grinned.

"Yeah sometimes. She's right most of the time anyway, so it's alright."

Mr. Evans looked at James as if he finally understood him. James looked up at him and saw the expression on his face.

"I love your daughter, sir. I love her more than anything. I want to marry her and make her the happiest woman on the face of the earth."

Mr. Evans looked at him but didn't smile, though he wanted to.

"And what makes you think you deserve my baby girl?" James smiled to himself and stared back at the picture of her with chocolate all over her face.

"Well," James said, "I don't think I do deserve her, sir. I have never met anyone as kind, as smart, as mysterious and magical as your daughter. I still don't know what it is about her...but she is so special. Every time I look at her I can't help but wonder as to why me? She could have had anyone in the world, but she chose me. I honestly don't understand what I have that interested her. The only thing I know is that from the moment I saw her it became my mission to make her smile. God, I would do anything for her, anything at all and without hesitation. Well, to be honest I hesitated about meeting you and your wife. I was afraid you would shoot me and mount my head on the wall."

Mr. Evans laughed heartily and put his arm around James's shoulders.

"You're not bad, kid. Not bad at all," he said to him. "You have to know, though, that Lily deserves the best in life. Nothing from the bottom; the best."

"I might not run my own business, or be voted most likely to succeed, but I promise you that no matter what kind of hardship we're in, I will always love her. I will always put her life before mine, I swear it to you and to her. And she'll have whatever she wants, whatever she needs to be happy." And at long last Mr. Evans approved of him.

"So," he said, "Tell me about this sport you play; Quidditch, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Well there are seven players all on flying brooms. The goal is for one team to score on the other. There are three chasers-- "

"Oh I know the rules already, Lily has told me. But what about winning, have you ever lost a match?"

"Nope. We are undefeated. I have a play book if you'd like to see it. It shows some highlights of the games."

"Absolutely," he said with a grin. James got up and went to his room to get the book when Lily entered the livingroom and sat next to her father. He held her close to him and smiled.

"I like him, Princess. You did good," he told her.

"You like him?" she asked excitedly.

"He's a good man. You'll be happy with him. And if your not, just call, and I'll rip him apart for you." She hugged him and kissed his cheek when James came back into the room with his book. Lily got up and jumped into his arms, which was slightly shocking, but he liked it.

He sat down in between the two and explained the various Quidditch plays and maneuvers to Mr. Evans while Lily held tight to James, glad that the two men in her life understood each other.

  
  


The next morning was the same as the past two mornings. The six of them had tea and didn't say much to one another; just stared out the windows. James agreed with Lily; the Dursleys were horrible. James tried his best to be nice and polite to them, but Petunia and Vernon couldn't see past the fact that he was a wizard and wizards used magic. He avoided them as often as he could by spending every waking hour with Lily, which was rather enjoyable. She played all of her Beatle's albums for him, then moved on to Elton John and later some American bands like Fleetwood Mac and the Doors.

"I like the one about the guy with the flat top," James said to her.

"Oh yeah, 'here comes ol' flat top, he come groovin up slowly.' It's actually called 'Come together' and that's the Beatles. I'll put it on." She slipped the record out of it's jacket and put it on her player. 

"I like this group," James said.

"They're my favorite too." She walked back over to her bed and lay down next to James. "Where are we going to live?" she asked.

"Where ever you want."

"Is there a predominantly wizarding neighborhood?" 

"Um, the only one I know of is Godric's Hollow, but even there half of them are muggles. You saw it, what did you think?"

"I liked it. Hey have you thought at all about your career?" she said.

"A little. I just don't need something that takes a lot of time and makes tons of money. I have a huge inheritance. We'll be very comfortable, I promise. What do you want to do?"

"I was thinking about being a doctor," she said.

"Yeah?" he leaned on his side and looked at her. "That would be perfect for you."

"You think so?"

"Absolutely. Dr. Lily. It has a very nice ring to it. Have you told you father?"

"Not yet, I wanted to tell you first. I would have to go to medical school and it takes about four years."

"So? If you want to be a doctor, go for it."

"What about children?" she asked.

"What about them?"

"Well, how soon? How many? You know."

"I think we should try being married before we throw a kid into the equation. And one at a time would be good for me." She smiled and agreed.

"Small wedding or large?" she asked.

"Small; just friends and family. Are you going to invite your sister?"

"Hmmm...I don't know. She didn't invite me, so maybe I should invite her. It's not like she'd go anyway. When should we get married? I turn 18 in July and you on the second of August so probably sometime after that, right?"

"Sounds good. Late August or September would be perfect."

There was a knock on the door. They both got off the bed, though they weren't even holding hands, but thought it safe to be standing.

"Yes?" Lily asked. Her father opened the door and peeked his head inside.

"We're going to go out to breakfast, would you like to join us?" he asked.

"Are Petunia and Vernon going with you?"

"Yep, but that doesn't mean you two can't come along."

Lily looked at James, who looked back. She frowned at him which told James she wanted to stay at home which is what he wanted to do.

"No thanks," she said, "Go have fun without us." But he looked concerned with this concept. He did like James but leaving him alone with his daughter was a whole other matter.

"What are you two going to do?" he asked.

"I don't know. Just hang out I guess."

"Why don't you take another car and go someplace different. We'll take the Benz and you can take the Jag. Go to the new café. It's about ten minutes from here and it's pretty good. Okay?" Lily knew that he didn't trust them in the house alone, so she agreed to the proposal. "And bring us back some napkins. I like them." Then he left.

"Napkins?" James asked.

"To prove that we were there."

"Ah," he said. "What's 'the Jag'?"

"My mom's car. I know how to drive, though, not to worry. Let's go." She took him by the hand and went down to the kitchen where the four of them were congregated. Mr. Evans took a key of his key ring and gave it to Lily.

"Drive safe, now," he told her. She took the key and walked with James into the garage where the three top of the line cars were parked.

"Which one is it?" he asked.

"The green one. Come on." She opened his door then went around to the driver's side and buckled her seat belt. She started the engine, opened the garage door magically and pulled out.

"Not that I don't trust you, but how many hours do you have behind this machine?" he asked.

"Oh about 30 or something. Driving is a very simple thing you know. I could even teach you. There are two types of ignitions; automatic and a stick shift like this one. I have to push the clutch, the pedal to the far left, and then put it in gear using the shift," she said pointing to the stick in the middle console, "into the gear I desire. Then I let out the clutch while I apply the gas to make the car move forward. It's very simple."

James looked utterly confused. Lily drove forward very slowly and stopped at several signs which read 'stop.' Driving didn't look that hard, at least the steering part, but the whole clutch and gas thing really made his head hurt. She was doing a lot of work on those pedals and he knew he couldn't do that.

"I prefer brooms. They seem a lot faster," he said. Lily glanced at him.

"Oh really?" she asked with a smirk. "Well let me get onto a remote country road and let her out. Then we'll see which you prefer." Lily made several right turns and pulled onto a very strait and long road in the countryside. "Now, buckle up."

"I don't think we're going to go that fast," he chuckled. Lily floored the gas; the car lunged forward with an almighty roar of the engine. She shifted up into second, then into fourth (completely ignoring third) and then into fifth in a matter of seconds.

"Yes, 110 miles per hour!" she yelled as trees and bushes passed them in a blur. She looked over at James and saw that he was clutching the seat with a look of horror on his face. She found this to be funny and laughed manically. 

"Slow down, slow down," he begged her, but she pushed the car faster till the speedometer read 130. 

"Isn't this fun?" she asked him. He shook his head. She sighed and took her foot of the gas and let the car slow down. She turned it around and started to drive to the café in her neighborhood. "Now you can tell Sirius that you have been in a car with your hair on fire. You have to admit you had a good time, James. I saw a glimmer of joy in your eyes for a split second."

"No that was a glimmer of being scared sick and it wasn't for a second it was for eternity." She laughed some more and slapped his shoulder as if he was joking, which he wasn't. He kept his seat belt securely latched around himself and held the seat until they parked at the café. Lily got out as if it was normal to speed someplace like lightning, while he took several minutes to rip himself from his seat. 

It was a nice place, the café, Lily noticed once they finally got inside. She asked for a booth and they were seated immediately. Both of them took some napkins and stuffed their pocket's with them and ordered some tea.

"I need to tell Sirius about all of this. He's going to be upset that I have yet to write. He's probably wondering about how things are going. I wonder what he's doing."

"Probably wishing you were with him. Tomorrow is going to be interesting. I wonder what they're going to do or give for that matter."

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"Well, last year Petunia and Vernon gave me lined paper and a single ball point pen. I think it was used. You know the saying, 'it's the thought that counts', well there was no thought."

"It could have been worse. I mean at least they didn't give you a used tissue. Now that would be low." Just then Lily saw short chubby woman enter the café alone. She wore a small black hat on top of her brown, curly hair which was greying. Lily hid her face. "What's the matter?" James asked.

Lily pointed to the woman without revealing her own face. James turned to see her and noticed that she sat in the booth adjacent to them. "What's the problem?" he asked.

"She was my second grade teacher. She's a bit...different."

"Oh you hate her," he said as he took a sip of tea.

"I didn't say that."

"No, you said she was different. That's what you always say about people you don't like. What did she do to you? I really am curious."

Lily slouched down in the booth so that her chin was just above the table. "Well she was yelling at my friend because her picture had too much color in it, and I liked my friends picture so I got mad at her. Well...I thought it would be funny if she was yelling at my friend only wearing her underwear, because she would look really stupid, and right as I thought that...well...her clothes...kinda disappeared. I didn't mean to do it, I just lost control. The whole class was laughing and she sent me home to my parents." James was sniggering to himself at the image of the woman sitting behind him only wearing her underwear. "It's not funny. She looked at me like a bug for the rest of the year."

"I have one question. There wasn't a friend, right? It was you the whole time." Lily looked guiltily at him and smiled. James laughed again. "Well, well, well. And here I thought you had always respected the teachers. You're just as bad as I am."

"Not even close. I didn't mean for it to happen," she said.

"No, but you were happy when it did."

"Well yeah, I guess," she admitted. James took her hands and pulled her back up from her slouch position.

"You know, I had a false pretense about you. I thought for all of those years that you were perfect, innocent and angelic. But now I see that you're a wild child."

"I am not a wild child," she said though she was grinning.

"You are too. You undressed your second grade teacher because she didn't like your painting, you ate chocolate out of a bowl and couldn't manage to get it into your face, you were up late at night making out in a bathroom with moi, cursing at a Quidditch match, shattered a glass in someone's face, and drove your father's car over the speed of sound. Tell me you're not a tiny bit on the wild side."

She tried to keep a straight face but was unable to maintain it.

"Maybe, but not as bad as you are. I think you're my problem. All your badness has rubbed off on me. But that's they way the ball bounces."

"Ah, evil by association. Well we could make this breakfast more interesting."

"And how's that?" she asked.

He pointed to the teacher behind him and grinned evilly. Lily's eyes grew ten times and she shook her head violently.

"No, don't you say anything," she whispered threateningly. James grinned even more as he saw the panic on her face.

"Yes, yes. It'll be fun. It's not like you'll ever see her again. Live dangerously, Lily. Life's short; have fun."

She didn't say anything out of fear that he would do something stupid.

"James," she said after several tense and quiet seconds. She was getting ready to lecture him on the necessities of maturity, but he stopped her by saying...

"Lily Evans!" her teacher pricked her ears and listened to the booth, "How many times do I have to tell you? I will not, I repeat will not have sex with you," he smiled at her. Lily's face went redder than a tomato. She tried covering it with her arms, but she could still feel the heat radiating through her sweater. "Haven't I told you that we are far too young to be doing that. I mean I know your beautiful and you lust for my body, but come on now! Just try to contain your desires for me deep inside, okay?" James was saying it very quietly so that the rest of the café couldn't hear them, but her teacher did. Lily hoped that James was finished so that she could strangle him, but he continued with the play.

"I just thought we had agreed to wait a while, 'til we were married. We decided it was best for us, remember?"

Lily peered at him through a gap in her hands. He was still smirking. Her teacher had turned around and was now staring at her with rapt attention. Lily lowered her hands and then crossed her arms.

"James whatever your middle name is, Potter, I hate you. How can you say those lies in a café? You humiliated me."

"It's Byron, and I didn't humiliate you. No one else heard."

"That doesn't matter."

"Lily Evans?" her teacher asked, "My you have grown."

"Hello Mrs. Schnickel," Lily kicked James hard under the table.

"I thought that was you but I wasn't sure. How are you my dear?" She didn't seem scandalized by James's performance, which was surprising.

"Just fine, and you?"

"Oh never better. Who is this handsome young man?"

"This is my friend-- "

"Her fiancé," James interrupted as he turned to shake her hand, "James."

"You'll make a great couple. I'm here waiting to meet my son and grandchildren."

"That's nice." Lily really didn't want to carry on the conversation, as their food arrived. Afterwards the two of them left, got back into the Jag and raced home, literally. The other four had already arrived and looked surly. James and Lily gave Mr. Evans his napkins, and they ran back upstairs to Lily's room where they talked about their future together.

* * * * * 

Christmas was the next morning. Lily rose early and drug James out of his bed so he could see all the presents under the tall tree. She had put his under it earlier that night, as did he for hers. She took all the packages that were for her and put them in a pile. Then she picked some up and shook them.

"Sweater," she said for one of them then cast it aside. "Jewelry box," she said for another one. "Books, and that one will be stationary and that one should be-- "

"Why even bother wrapping them?" he said.

"Because guessing is half the fun," she replied as she continued to guess all of her gifts. James sat down beside her and leaned against the wall. This was it, he thought, the first Christmas without his family. He tried to look happy, but he really wasn't. The house he was in just seemed so foreign, and he felt strangely out of place. He was the only one left.

"Are you alright?" Lily asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"That's not very convincing. You miss them, don't you?"

He nodded. Lily moved over to him and leaned against his chest, which he found very comforting. 

"I'm sorry," she whispered to him.

"It's not your fault."

"I know but I can still be sorry."

"I just hope that someone get's that bastard," James said.

"Yeah, me too. Someone will, James, I know someone will."

"You two are up early," Amanda said to them. "It'll be a while 'til your father and your sister rise and shine, I'm afraid. I don't think they'd mind if you went on without them." Lily looked happily at James, and he smiled back. Lily ripped open her gifts in a flurry of excitement as if she was six years old. James took great delight in just watching her.

She got a sweater, a jewelry box, books, and stationary like she said she would. Liz had given her a glass figure of an owl, which she loved, and Jade sent her a framed picture of the two of them. Petunia and Vernon hadn't gotten her anything. James sat up when she got to his gifts and crossed his fingers that she would like them.

First she opened a perfectly squared shape box.. Inside was a porcelain ballet dancer no bigger than her hand. She was thin, with red hair and green eyes, just like Lily. 

"She's beautiful," she said to him. He just smiled and signaled for her to continue. "This one's a picture in a frame," she sang as she unwrapped the next one. "Oh my goodness. How did you get this?" she asked as she stared down at the autographed picture of the Beatles. "I love it, how did you get it?"

"Well, I'm not completely helpless in the muggle world, you know. A friend of my Dad's is also a huge fan and knew one of them, I don't know who or how. So I picked out the picture and told John your name and he got them to sign it for you."

Lily kissed him for a great while before he told her to open the last two. "What more could you have gotten?" she asked. She unwrapped a small box and cooed when she saw the contents. They were the figures that go on top a wedding cake. The groom look just like James and the bride exactly like Lily. She could have cried she was so touched. And then the last one was a rather large package with holes on one side. Lily ripped it open quickly and...

"It's so cute!" It was a baby owl. She opened the cage and it jumped on her lap hooting happily. "How old is she?"

"A few months. She can fly and everything, you don't have to hand feed her."

"Thank you so much!" she said flinging herself around him. "Mine aren't as good as yours. It's hard to shop for guys."

"I don't care." He didn't agree with her though. She had gotten him perfect gifts. A silver wristwatch, a photo of her in a frame, a very large anthology of all the Professional Quidditch teams in the world, and a comical book called "Way's to fool your friends and teachers, by Cosmica Hoodwink." Sirius had also given him some humorous gifts like a tiny toilet with the word 'curry' written on it, and a t-shirt that read, 'I am property of Lily' which he found very funny.

Mrs. Evans was right; the other three didn't show up until ten that morning, when James and Lily were more than finished. They had their Christmas, which was very cheeky. Vernon bought Petunia a lot of jewelry, dresses, slippers, and a coffee maker. To keep them from hearing Lily's interpretation and symbolism of the gifts the two gave to each other, James took her by the hand and led her upstairs.

  
  


But the most controversy of the visit didn't happen until the day before James's departure. Christmas had passed; all the gifts had been given, all the family had met, and now it was down to the cabin fever. Well, actually it was really only Petunia and Lily that had it. They couldn't stay in the same room without tearing each other apart with verbal quos. Vernon and James watched on the proverbial sidelines and egged them on. Amanda and Robert tried to send them to the corner to think about what they had said, but they were too old for it. 

Lily, fed up with her sister, went outside to take a walk. James followed and told her that she had definitely won the argument, but she didn't care.

"I hate her," Lily said stomping her feet on the driveway, "I hate her, I hate her, I hate her! I just wish that for once we could talk and not secretly desire to have our hands around each other's necks squeezing. But that's that. So we can talk now about whatever."

James didn't really know what to say and didn't have to say anything because a four year old boy ran into Lily's arms.

"Lily!" he said in his mutchkin voice. Lily hoisted him up in the air and spun him around.

"How are you, Tyler?" she asked.

"Good," he giggled happily. She kissed his chubby cheeks and ruffled his brown hair.

"How was your Christmas?" she asked.

"Good, I got a wed fiwor twuck and awmy soldiows," he told her happily. He was obviously still having trouble with his 'r's. 

"Cool," she responded with enthusiasm. "Where's your mom?" He pointed with his tiny fingers to a woman at a mailbox.

"Hello Lily!" she yelled.

"Hi Mrs. Schmidt!" 

"Who's that?" Tyler asked as he pointed at James. Lily smiled.

"I'm going to marry him in a few months." Tyler didn't look happy with that answer, but James shook his small hand anyway.

"I thought you said you wewor going to mawee me," Tyler said. She laughed.

"Oh sweetie your too young for me to marry. I'll still see you though; I'll visit whenever I can, okay?"

"Okie dokie smokey," he said. Lily gave Tyler back to his mother and walked up to the house. "So, I go back tomorrow and leave you with these morons, eh?" James said.

"Yeah, you leave me with the morons. I don't think Vernon graduated in the top one percent of his class, nor do I think that he was voted most likely to succeed. She lied to us."

"You mean I'm not going to be the next Minister of Magic?"

"James, I said that because she lied to me first. Every other thing I said about you was true. He just seems like too much of an idiot to be smart. Perhaps he was voted most likely to hit someone if they got in his way."

  
  


Later that evening the electricity died and all six of them were thrown in the dark. Petunia and Vernon complained loudly about it, but Lily knew just what to do.

"Damn power company," Vernon grunted.

"Oh Vernon it's not that bad," Amanda said, "I'll just get us some candles if I don't trip over anything on my way there." Lily opened her palm and blew inside it; in an instant a ball of fire floated over her hand. James did the same and went to his room to get his wand. Vernon and Petunia shrieked at the site of the fire.

"It's just magic," James said. He and Lily went separate ways to get their wands and brought them into the livingroom. In a matter of seconds, 25 lit candles were floating in the air of the room. Robert looked delighted at the sight; Vernon and Petunia cowered. 

"How d-did you d-do that?" Vernon asked.

"I told you, it's magic. There's nothing to be afraid of," James reasoned. But they still looked at him like he was an alien from another planet. 

"Oh floating candles!" Amanda squealed with excitement, "The benefits of having two wizards in the house. Who wants pumpkin pie?"

Robert, James and Lily all said yes, but the other two were still watching the candles with rapture. Lily found this to be more than amusing and wanted to do more magic but decided against it.

After pie and coffee everyone went to bed, as the power was out. James and Lily extinguished the candles and made them disappear. Everyone said goodnight and went to bed. James was the most relieved, as it was his last night with all of those people. He loved Lily more than anything, but it would be nice to go back with Sirius in the morning.

He hit his head on the pillow and sighed. He had done it. He had won the approval of Lily's parents by a landslide, there was nothing to worry about now. He was just about ready to fall asleep when he heard his door creak open. Lily locked the door and ran inside.

"What are you doing?" James asked.

"Okay, now would probably be a good time to tell you that I am afraid of being alone in the dark."

"What? You've been okay for the past week," he told her.

"Yeah but I had a nightlight on and the power's out and I can't have one. And I lit a candle but I kept thinking 'what if it catch's fire in the night and I burn up?' You don't want me to burn do you? And I tried thinking of something else to do, but in the back of my mind a tiny voice kept saying 'go see James' so I did and here I am."

"Well what am I supposed to do for you?" Lily looked at the spot next to him and smiled. "Oh no, you cannot sleep in this bed next to me, not now when your father loves me."

"But I'm afraid to be alone in the dark," she whined.

"Lily, don't do this to me. If you get in here with me a little voice in my head will start talking. A voice very different from yours, understand?"

"So I have to be alone and afraid?"

"Yes," James said firmly.

"But-- "

"No buts, you can't sleep with me. That's final."

  
  


Lily sighed and smiled as she lay her head on James's chest. "This is much better," she said snuggling close to him. "Don't you think?"

"No. That little voice keeps talking to me. I'll never get to sleep."

"You want me to sing to you?" she asked softly.

"Sing?"

"Yeah, you know that thing you do with your voice when your not talking but making a song with music."

"I know what it is, how is it going to help me?"

"I sang for Tyler over the summer to make him go to sleep. It's not any different; he's shorter than you are but that's about it." She laughed at her own joke, and James smiled.

"Alright," he said casually putting his hands behind his head. She hoisted herself up so that she was directly above him.

"Now, look into my eyes and relax. You're getting sleepy," she said. James snorted. "Shhhh," she said laughing and running her hands through his hair. "You have to follow my instructions or it won't work."

"Oh now I understand," he said sarcastically. 

"Let me try this again," she whispered, her head inches from his. "Alright, now you just listen to my voice; let it carry you away."

"I'm ready," he whispered to her.

She started to hum a tune he had not heard but liked. He moved his arms from behind his head and wrapped them around her. She smiled then she started to sing; at first very softly but it grew to a beautiful note: 

"Imagine all the people

Living life in peace

You-hoo-oooo, you may say I'm a dreamer,

But I'm not the only one.

Perhaps some day you will join us

And the world will live as one."

James looked at her with longing in his eyes; she looked at him the same way.

"Yeah, I can see how that works," he said.

"Uh huh," she whispered back her lips being magnetically drawn to his 'til they finally met.

  
  


The alarm clock rang loudly at nine in the morning. Lily squinted at it but didn't want to concentrate hard enough to summon it to stop, so she leaned across James and shut it off.

"What time is it?" he asked groggily.

"Nine," she said collapsing onto him. "You snore, you know."

"Well at least I don't kick," he yawned stroking her hair.

"Ew, you're breath is very stinky," she giggled.

"Well it can't be as bad as yours. You're like a fire breathing dragon."

"Thanks honey," she said.

He chuckled, "You're welcome sugar." She looked at him and smiled. "What is it?" he asked.

"I can't wait to do this every morning with you."

"Ahh," he said. "Me neither. I have a teensy question though."

"Shoot."

"Won't your parents worry when they go to wake you up and you're not there?" he asked. She dropped her smile and threw the covers off of her. She ran to the door but then she heard voices in the hallway. If they saw her come out of his room still in pajamas, they would fear the worst.

"Window," she said to herself. She opened it, jumped out and ran for the other side of the house. "Cold, cold, cold," she mumbled as the ground was covered in snow. "Think Lily, how are you going to get up into your room. How are you going to do it? There's no Trilliaceae like in the movies so how do you get up there. You're a witch, think of something. How about..." Lily looked around. "Drain pipe!" she said. She grabbed it and started to climb, which was very difficult; the pipe was very cold. But she was a witch and used some basic magic to help herself up the house wall. She unlocked and raised her window by looking at it, and hoisted herself inside. "Oi, this is hard," she said as she tried to push herself through the small window. Finally she landed on the floor with a crash and saw something that made her stomach drop.

Petunia was standing by the door, a Polaroid camera in her hands, with a fresh picture waiting to develop.

"Well, well, well. Where have we been all night long?" Lily was at a loss. This was bad. Petunia had a look of great success on her face and Lily was still sprawled on the floor. "Innocent Lily, pure, innocent, perfect Lily was sleeping with her boyfriend in her father's house. Daddy's going to love to hear this."

"Petunia, listen, it isn't what you think. I didn't do anything with him."

"Sure you didn't."

"It's true!" she yelled. She really wanted to hit her with a bat but didn't have one on hand.

"Daddy's little Princess has been tainted. The flower has given it's honey. Curious Potter isn't so curious anymore."

"Nothing happened, Petunia, you have to believe me. Give me that picture," Lily got up and slowly advanced on her.

"Not in a million years. They'll never send you back to the school for freaks now that I have this. Imagine, sending a daughter they can no longer trust to a place where she can do anything with that wastrel."

"James isn't a wastrel. He's far better than Vernon and I think you know that!"

"Oh how sentimental of you. He's vermin, Lily, no better than a street gypsy with glasses. He's just a good-for-nothing mope with no aspirations or potential. He's no better than a dog with fleas!"

Lily leapt at her and knocked her to the ground. Petunia shrieked with pain and anger; Lily pulled her sister's hair hard and punched every part she could hit. Petunia used her nails and tried scratching Lily, screaming obscenities all the while. Lily tried to grab the picture grasped tightly in Petunia's hands, but it was just out of reach. 

"Give it to me!" Lily yelled.

"Never!" Petunia screamed. The two of them were an entangled ball as they kept fighting mercilessly on the ground. Petunia finally got the upper hand and kicked Lily in the stomach with all the strength in her body. Lily buckled over and fell back. Petunia got up and ran for the door, but Lily had enough strength to lock the door magically so she couldn't get out. Petunia kicked it but to no avail.

"Give me the picture," Lily said balancing her self on the bed.

"No," Petunia panted.

"If you don't give me that photo I will ruin your life, so help me God."

"Ha! An empty threat."

"Oh is it. If you go down and tell mom and dad that you have a picture of me coming through the window, it'll mean nothing. If you tell them that I slept with James, though, you have power. But, I know things about you that would make them vomit."

Petunia listened.

"If you tell them about me and James, which resulted in nothing, I will tell them that you smoked pot with Elliot Jenkins when you were 15 in the livingroom."

"How did you know that?" she asked panicked.

Lily grinned, "You're not the only one who can spy on people. So, I can be nice and forget about the fact that you wasted yourself and fried your brain, or I can be very talkative. The choice is yours."

Petunia did some brief thinking, but she was very crafty. She smirked with pleasure and paced around the room.

"That was a long time ago. This was last night and still going on. They would forget about my incident, but they wouldn't forget about yours. I might have smoked, but you, their perfect daughter, undermined them in their own home by sleeping with a man you have yet to marry. That will carry far more weight than your silly little story about me!" She turned around and walked to the door again but Lily was suddenly struck with an excellent idea.

"Oh Petunia," she said in a mock kindness. She turned around. "It'll be nice seeing you in the future and so convenient on our part. Just imagine, your having dinner with your gossipy friends, and who pops up but me and my family out of thin air. When you least expect it, I will appear in your life in a blink of an eye. What will they say about you? 'That Petunia Dursley, have you seen her family? They're wizards! I saw them with my own eyes, doing magic everywhere.' And I'll tell all of my friends about you and where you live. We'll see you everyday, wherever you are, wherever you try to hide, I'll find you."

Petunia looked horrified; Lily continued. "But if you give me that photo and speak nothing of my whereabouts last night, you will never see me again. I promise you."

Petunia glared at her, searching Lily's devilish grin for the truth. "Never again?" she asked.

"Except for our parents funeral; never. You will never see James and me, that's a promise. Just give me the photo." Lily stretched out her hand to take it. Petunia thought it over; it was a fair trade. She slowly handed the picture to Lily, who snatched it and ignited it in flames. They both stared at one another before moving, as if they had something more to say. Finally, Petunia went for the door, and had grasped the knob when Lily got an uncomfortable feeling in her gut.

"Petunia wait," she said massaging her stomach. "Since this is the last time we'll see each other in a while," she knew what she wanted to say, but she didn't know why. Petunia looked at her blankly. "We are sisters," she started, "The only thing we have in common is our parents. I know we have never really seen eye to eye, but...I think that deep down we still care for each other in some way, probably very small but enough. I know you think I'm strange but I want you to know something. If you ever need help, help in anything, whether you are moving to a new house and need help packing or something terrible happens, I'll be there for you. You can call on me for anything and I'll appear instantly, no questions asked. I don't expect you to do the same, but I just wanted you to know that I'll watch your back."

She looked at Lily with an abnormal expression. Lily thought she wanted to nod in agreement, and perhaps she did, but Petunia just stared at her as if not knowing how to react. She went for the door slowly and exited the room without saying anything; Lily sighed. She went to her closet to get her clothes, changed, then went downstairs.

Petunia hardly said a word over breakfast, which was most unusual. 

James was to leave at noon; the Blacks were picking him up by car. Lily requested that they drive, considering all the muggle company they were in, instead of using floo powder or the violent purple Knight Bus which would certainly cause alarm. Sirius would not be coming as a safety precaution. 

Noon rolled around a lot faster than Lily would have liked, but James was ready for it. He shook Mr. Evans hand, who smiled and treated him like his son, then Mrs. Evans kissed him, ("You're so adorable!"). Out of common courtesy, which was very low, Petunia and Vernon said goodbye to him, very formally. Lily walked him out of the house towards the road.

"Thanks for coming, James," she said to him.

"Well, it had to be done. It was kinda fun, actually. But I'm so glad that I spent all my time with you. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"I wish I could go with you," she said, fumbling with his hands.

"So do I. But next year it'll just be us; no one else."

"Not even Sirius?" she asked.

"Not even Sirius. No extended family allowed. It'll just be you and me and a Christmas tree."

She laughed, "You should be a poet. I'll see you in a week then?"

"Yeah, a week. Maybe I'll go back sooner. If I do, I'll be sure to tell you." A small car pulled up the driveway; it was Mr. Black. "Right on time. I'll see you soon, Lily. I love you."

"I love you, too." He held her in his arms and kissed her goodbye, not knowing that Mr. and Mrs. Evans were watching out the window eating cinnamon rolls. Lily let go of him reluctantly and watched him get into the car and drive away.

She stood in the driveway for several minutes thinking; thinking of what there was to come in her life. Thinking of the time she would spend with him. Wondering if she would ever do anything extraordinary...


	19. The Battle of the Sexes

***The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn't to be reproduced, sold or taken as true. Character and locations belong to J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.***

Authors note: I have a major test on Monday so I won't even start the next chapter until after that. I also have semester finals so wish me luck. I hope you like this chapter, please read and review, I'm getting close to 100.

  
  


Part Six: The Battle of the Sexes

"Tricks, pranks, deceptions...not just a boy game."

  
  


"What are these?" Sirius asked as he opened his Christmas gift from Lily.

"Sunglasses," she said. Sirius gave her a quizzical look. He picked them up and examined them from every angle then put them down.

"When do I use them?" he asked.

"When it's dark," she said sarcastically. "When do you think you would wear sunglasses, Sirius?" He looked stunned at her.

"Wow. A week with James was too long. What's with the sarcasm? It's very new; I like it. So you wear the glasses when it's sunny, right?"

"Yep."

"Muggles actually wear them?"

"Yes, they're very useful. Try them on."

"It's not sunny." Sirius pointed outside. Lily nodded at him for his excellent perception skills, then went to get a large mirror.

"Put them on and look in your friend the mirror," she said. Sirius picked up the glasses, slowly put them on his face, and looked in the mirror.

"Whoa," Sirius grinned. "I look good. I had no idea I could look this cool. Thanks Lily!" he said gratefully. 

"No problem, just don't get too narcissistic, alright?" she said, smiling at him.

"Fine. Okay, now the present I got you isn't nearly as good, but I didn't know what to get you. So keep in mind I did my best, I really did."

"That's fine," she said. "It's the thought that counts, you know." He nodded and handed her a wrapped object which she recognized as a book. She unwrapped it hastily.

"Oh," she said laughing, "this is perfect. Where did you find a book like this?"

"Quality Quidditch Supplies in Diagon Alley. I saw it, and I just had to get it for you."

"It's great. 'What to Do When Your Spouse Is Obsessed with Quidditch.' Ideal. Thanks a bunch. Hey, speaking of Quidditch obsessed, where is James?" 

"I think he's...I have no idea."

"You don't?"

"No, I don't know where he is. What is it with everyone in this school? I don't know where he is all the time."

"I don't expect you to. It just seems like you're not being completely honest with me. Is he up to something?" she asked, but then thought. "You know what? I don't want to know. I don't want to know. I'm going to go look for the other two."

"Um, I think Liz is with Remus right now, and Jade's probably with Geoff Martin, the low life sixth year who cheats on women. Well, if you're going to leave me alone, I'll go look for James. See you around."

Lily's face split into a grin. "Okay. See you around." Then she left the common room. Sirius made sure she was gone, then ran up the stairs to the dormitories. James was sitting on his bed studying some parchment in his hands.

"Well?" James asked.

"Doesn't suspect a thing. So, how's it coming along?"

"Great. I've looked up some spells to make the material and how to hide it. If we had the map we could see if it was clear to go, but..." James shook his head sadly. "I miss it."

"Me too. So how do we pull this off?" he asked.

James looked at him and grinned evilly.

  
  


School recommenced on January third. Everyone was supremely disappointed that the holiday was over, but now they had summer to look forward to. But James, as well as everyone else in the seventh year, was getting quite nervous about summer. What did the future hold? Sirius eventually convinced him not to think about it so much; he did after all have quite the inheritance. But it still weighed down on his mind. He couldn't be a bum all day and read about Quidditch teams. Lily wanted to go to medical school and be a doctor like her father. Maybe he should be like his father. No, he thought quickly, too much stress and time away from Lily.

"It is essential when performing the full body shield, or at least attempting it, that you concentrate solely on maintaining the shield," Professor Gellar said to the class one day. The initial shock of her beauty had grown into admiration to the tenth degree. Professor McGonnagal often complained that James and Sirius were so well behaved in Defense Against the Dark Arts but had to be separated in Transfiguration.

"I just don't understand how you can be so horrid in this class but so charming in Professor Gellar's," Professor McGonnagal said to Sirius who had his quill and his wand stuck up his nose. He carefully removed the items from his nostrils, while the class was overcome with laughter, and made a cute remark.

"Well it's because you don't look like Professor Gellar." McGonnagal raised her eyebrows; Sirius hit himself. "I mean, I'm sure you looked like that when you weren't so old." 

McGonnagal put her hands on her hips and continued to stare down at him. "That's not what I meant," Sirius said, sweat coming to his forehead. "Actually I think you're quite lovely, more so than Celes- Professor Gellar, that is, even in old age. And you've aged gracefully, Professor, and I'm not just saying that to kiss up to you, I honestly think you look well preserved." Sirius looked at her cold face for a few seconds before saying: "I dug a pretty big hole, didn't I?"

She nodded.

"Detention with you this Saturday?" he asked.

She nodded again then went back to her lesson.

But in Gellar's class, he, as well as James, were perfect gentleman. 

James raised his hand to ask her a question. "But Professor, if someone is trying to curse you, wouldn't it be extremely hard to maintain this shield?"

"Yes, that's why very few can do it. At best the shield can protect you from minor curses like the ones you would use on each other in a duel. If you wanted to protect yourself from a more advanced curse, then you would have to evoke more magic. But how do you know that's what your opponent is going to use? Well, welcome to the Dark Arts. (I think)

"It has often been asked if one can transfer the shield to someone else, say someone who is more capable of a battle. As to that I don't know. Only a truly powerful wizard can conjure that kind of magic. 

"Now, why don't we all get into pairs and try to perform this. I doubt that anyone in this room will be able to divert a curse, but we'll find out." Professor Gellar moved all the desks to the side of the room, allowing them space to practice. James and Sirius paired off and walked to the far side of the class.

"What do we concentrate on?" Sirius whispered to him.

"I don't know. I thought you knew."

"No, I thought it was a given, and I just didn't get it. Ask Lily, maybe she knows."

"Lily," James said. She walked over to him with Jade behind her. 

"What is it?"

"What are we supposed to concentrate on for this shield thing?" he asked.

"Whatever you think will protect you," she answered as if it was a purely obvious question. "It's different for each person. You just have to try it out." James nodded at her then went back to Sirius.

"Right, think of something that will protect me. How about a fire-breathing dragon?" James asked.

"Yeah, that would be cool. I'll think the same thing. Let's get to it," Sirius said. He took out his wand, watched James do the same, then turned around and walked five paces.

"On three," James said pointing his wand at him. "One...two...THREE!"

"Impramento!" Sirius yelled, lunging forward into his wand. James's eyes grew ten times as he watched a yellow beam of light hit him in the gut. James fell over backwards clutching his stomach and groaning.

"Are you alright?" Sirius asked. James groaned.

"The dragon thing didn't work for me," he said slowly get off the ground, leaning on the wall for support.

"Okay. So now you hit me," Sirius said backing up. He raised his wand ready to take the blow. James threw himself forward and screamed: "Dynorous!" A purple wave erupted from James's wand. Sirius flew ten feet back, hit the wall like a fly on a windshield, and slid down in a heap. He let out a breath, which looked a lot like smoke, and shook his head.

"Right," he said weakly. "Dragons are out. Maybe we're going about this the wrong way. Maybe we have to think of something else. I mean dragons would probably attack us."

"Yeah, maybe one hundred rottweilers, trained ones. Let's try that," James said. He helped Sirius off his feet and prepared himself for action. Sirius thought of a mild spell to use on him and then threw it.

"Legalos Jellious!" he bellowed. James closed his eyes and tried to imagine a hundred vicious dogs in front of him, but then he felt his legs fall from under him. He opened his eyes and saw Sirius in a fit of the giggles, as he was wobbling all over the room. 

"Counter curse, please!" James said. He had dropped his wand and couldn't seem to get it. Sirius mumbled the counter, and James was back to normal. "That's it. I don't think I can do this shield thing." As he looked around he saw many other students on the ground in heaps. "I don't think anyone can do this. She's being to vague."

Professor Gellar laughed at all of them but went to Lily and pulled her to the front of the classroom. "Class, Miss Evans here is getting some kind of a response. Watch and learn." She told Lily to stand in the center of the room, drop her wand, and await the coming spell. "Now, some of you need to learn to ask questions when you are confused, Mr. Black. You don't think of dragons or aggressive dogs. The time to use the shield is when you are defenseless. I noticed that Miss Yang first disarmed her opponent, then Miss Evans used the shield. Now, I am going to attempt to curse her, and she will defend herself." Lily looked very nervous as everyone watched her. Professor Gellar raised her wand, cleared her throat, and said, "Renare!" A short flash of white light sprouted from her wand and hit Lily in the chest, only it didn't knock her down or effect her in anyway. Lily had crossed her arms over her heart as the Professor said the incantation and stopped the spell from hitting her. Lily tried forcing the spell, now a small, bright, translucent ball, back at the Professor, but failed; it just vanished.

"Excellent!" Professor Gellar said, clapping her hands in triumph. The rest of the class followed suit. "It's getting stronger each time," she said. Lily blushed and turned back to Jade.

"Lily," James said rushing to her, "how did you do that? It was amazing!"

"Why thank you. I don't really know how I did it, to tell you the truth. It just sort of....came over me."

"This means you're a great and powerful witch," Sirius told her. "Are you going to take over the world with these powers?" he asked.

"No, I'm going to save it," she laughed. Then the school bell rang telling them it was time for lunch. They all picked up their books and headed out the door, Sirius smiling at the professor as he left.

"That was a good lesson," Lily remarked as she took her place at the Gryffindor table.

"Not for me," Jade said. She was massaging her head, and Liz couldn't stop smiling; Remus hit her with a cheering charm. 

James and Sirius came parading towards them with huge smiles on their faces. Remus sniggered, and Peter looked anxious. They sat across from the three girls.

"What are you four so happy about?" Lily asked. James opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it.

"Nothing you'd be interested in," James said smirking.

"Oh really?" Lily asked. "So you're up to no good again, right?"

"Well I wouldn't say 'no good,' but..." Lily, Liz, and Jade all leaned forward. "It's nothing interesting, don't worry about it. What's for lunch?" James said. Sirius snorted with laughter at the confusion on their three faces, for which Jade glared at him.

"Okay, what is your problem?" he asked her.

She made a noise that all too clearly said, "You're an idiot."

"Look, I thought we were going to be good friends, but ever since you agreed to that you've treated me like garbage!"

"I have treated you like garbage? What have I done to upset you?" she asked.

"Well you've....Well the other day you....You've just been really....I can't explain it, but you've been mean!" he yelled, frustrated that he couldn't answer her simple question.

"Oh, poor Sirius got hurt feelings? How horrible. I would hate it if you hurt me. Wait a second," she said, holding her finger to her head. "You did hurt me. Shucks, I almost forgot. Well, I guess we're even then."

"Hey, I didn't mean to hurt you; I really didn't," he explained.

"Yeah, well James didn't mean to be an insensitive, Quidditch obsessed maniac who shrugged Lily either. Sometimes things happen when we don't ask them to, Sirius. Learn that."

"Could you leave me out of this please?" James asked. Jade gathered her books, stared at Sirius, and marched out of the Great Hall. Liz and Lily fixed their eyes on Sirius as if trying to burn holes in his face.

"Fine," Sirius said to himself. James, Remus, and even Peter looked at him questionably. "What?" he asked them. "What do you want me to do?"

"Go after her!" the three of them said. Sirius rolled his eyes, got out of his seat, and ran after Jade, though he really didn't want to. He found her just outside the great doors talking to David Butterfield, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain. 

"Hey Sirius," he said.

"Hey, what are you up to?"

"He's talking to me," Jade said. "You know there are some people who find me interesting, Sirius." She turned her back to him and tried to continue her conversation. Sirius persisted.

"Oh yeah? Well people find me interesting, too. So ha ha ha. I don't care if you talk to this guy, you know why?"

"Why?" she asked with her arms crossed.

"Because..." he couldn't think of anything. He really wasn't expecting her to challenge him.

"Because?" she asked skeptically. "Your answer is 'because'?"

"No, it's because he isn't as...He's not anything like a person that should be....Well, what I mean is that....Why do I have to explain this stuff to you? He was hitting on Lily after the breakup!"

Jade laughed at this and clapped her hands.

"No, Sirius. David was talking to me that day. Well, he was talking to Lily, but to make conversation. Right, David?" she asked.

"Right. James is my friend, I wouldn't do that to him." This didn't make sense to Sirius.

"Then why did you ask James if it was final? Huh? Why?"

"Cover. I thought you liked Jade, but you didn't as it turned out."

"So..." Sirius still was confused about this.

"Go away Sirius. Let someone else deal with your overly large ego." She took David by the robes and dragged him out of sight. Sirius stood there for several minutes before he walked back into the Hall.

"What happened? Where is she?" Lily asked. Sirius looked at her hard.

"As if you didn't know. You're in cahoots with her aren't you? You two trade insults and yap with each other like two peas in a pod, don't you?" he asked Lily. 

James glared at him. "Don't take that tone with her. Whatever happened you don't need to take it out on Lily. Is that clear?" James had a finality to his tone that Sirius was not accustomed to hearing.

"I'm sorry, Lily," he said sincerely sitting back down. "She said I had an 'overly large ego.' It hurt me, you know? She was talking to pretty-boy-butter-ball, and he looked really pleased about it. He has a way bigger ego than I do. You guys don't think I have a big ego, right?" he asked.

Lily and Liz looked away shyly; Remus had to excuse himself; James was the only one that looked him in the eye, though he said nothing.

"I can't believe this. Jade's right, isn't she? I'm a egotistic maniac."

"Well," James said unsurely, "maniac is a little strong."

"But I have a big ego?" he asked sadly.

"You're confident, Sirius," James said trying to cheer him up. "You're just really, really confident. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Don't sugarcoat it. I'm a pig; Jade's right. I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life, aren't I? No one will ever want me, will they? Not a single, solitary person."

"Sirius," Lily said taking his hand, "it's not that bad. You just spend some time looking in the mirror, more than you probably should, but we all have our faults. Jade's just still kinda bitter about what you said to her."

"I really don't understand women," he said before he hit his head on the table. "It's something I wish I could do, understand them and how their minds work. Oh well. Look, I'm going to go upstairs to get my books for the next class." He got up and started for the tower.

"We'll come with you," James said, and Peter followed. When they were out of earshot, Lily smiled and giggled; Liz followed suit.

"'I wish I could understand women,'" Liz said mocking Sirius. "What an idiot. If he was more dense his head would fall off. I'm so lucky that Remus has some brains in that cute head of his."

"That's for sure. Remus does seem smart, doesn't he? He's like the balancing force for those two. He neutralizes James and Sirius, thank God. Can you imagine the havoc they would achieve if he wasn't telling them chill out from time to time?"

"I don't want to think about it," Liz laughed. She picked up her books as Lily did but then stopped. "Hey, Sirius left his book." She opened it and dropped her jaw. 

"What is it?" Lily asked.

"A note. I think it's from James. It's about...us."

"Well don't just stand there. Read it!" Lily sat back down and looked at the note with Liz. It read the following:

"Padfoot, we can't tell them about Tuesday night. You know how Lily and Liz are, they'll fink on us in a second. You tell Remus and Peter about it, and we'll all go. Whatever you do, don't tell the girls; we don't want them to spoil anything. ~ Prongs"

Lily and Liz looked at each other with looks of anger, disbelief, and a strong feeling of curiosity. They each read it a few more times before talking about it.

"What are they going to do, and why don't they want us to be a part of it?" Liz asked.

"And why do they think we'll 'fink' on them? Have we every spilled the beans about them before? Uh, no; we never have. Those goons have no idea of what they speak."

"Well put," Liz said. "So, what are we going to do?"

"Oh I don't know. Snoop around."

"Excellent!" Liz said with relish. "They always did have more fun than us. Where do you think they're going tonight?"

"I have no idea. Let's not talk about this in class or out, only in utter secrecy. Write a note to Jade about it, and give it to her before class starts. And you and I never found this note in his book, alright?"

"What note?" Liz asked innocently, Lily smirked. They gathered their books again, took Sirius's, and headed to class. They met Jade at the door, David had walked her to class, then walked inside. Sirius quickly walked up to the three of them looking slightly panicked.

"Do you have my book?" he asked.

"Yep," Lily said handing it to him casually.

"You didn't open it did you? 'Cause I have some private notes in there."

"No, we didn't open it," Liz said, which was true; only Liz had opened it. Sirius looked slightly relieved, smiled at Jade, who scowled at him, then sat next to James. The three girls scrambled to their table and wrote out a detailed note to Jade with quotes and analyses about their findings. She looked very pleased at the news and wanted more. They all stared at Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter who looked suspicious at the moment.

That afternoon, Lily, Liz, and Jade started their homework but carefully watched the four boys. But watching them was quickly proving to be very boring, as they came and sat next to them and started homework. Jade refused to speak to Sirius, though he tried talking to her. It would have been quite a pleasant affair if the three girls didn't feel like kicking their male counterparts.

At long last, James made an excuse to go to the library, and the other three also miraculously found a reason to go with him. Lily complained about it, as did Liz (they didn't want to be transparent), but Jade was waving goodbye with a smile.

Lily watched each of them as they walked toward the portrait hole. Remus tripped on a second year's backpack and stumbled, tossing his books and papers everywhere. He quickly gathered them, looking embarrassed, then left with his friends. Lily watched them go, but Jade noticed he left a small paper. All three of them raced to the spot and lifted it off the ground. Only a few words were written upon it: "Moony, tonight, midnight, Dark Forest. Don't tell Liz."

"The Dark Forest, eh?" Lily said with delight.

"How on earth are we going to get there without being seen?" Liz asked.

"We'll just have to sneak out when everyone is asleep and creep down there."

"Hold everything," Jade said. "The Dark Forest? The DARK Forest? Are you kidding me? Have either of you been in that place? Not only is it forbidden and against the school rules, which, by the way, we follow, but it's filled with horrible monsters, and it's scary. You're not seriously thinking about going are you?"

Lily smirked guiltily. "Oh come on, Jade. Aren't you the least bit curious about what they're doing? So it's dangerous down there, big deal. We'll take our wands with us."

"Oh, our wands! Whew, I thought we were going to be defenseless. We'll put our lives in three small sticks. Good plan."

"Jade, no one is forcing you to go," said Liz. "But I am going, and so is Lily. It's up to you."

Jade crossed her arms and thought about it. "Well," she said, "I guess it'll be okay if you two are going."

"Excellent," Lily said. "Now we wait." 

* * * * *

When the clocked chimed twelve and all students were in bed, Lily, Liz, and Jade started down to the forest as covertly as possible. They had bundled up in extra layers, as it was very cold outside. The three sneaked around every corner and held their breath more than once.

"This is exciting!" Jade whispered. They managed to tiptoe past Peeves, which proved difficult; he was throwing ink wells at a wall and whooping joyously as each one splattered. They had to hide in a dark corner as Filch was on route to the mess.

"PEEVES!" he yelled, his little cat in tow. Once they got to the entrance hall, they each took deep breaths, tightened their scarves, and went out into the cold night. The snow crunched under their feet, and the ice-cold wind bit their ears. As they got farther away from the castle, they pulled out their wands. "Lumos," they each said, and a bright light shone in front of them. The forest was feet from them. Jade grabbed Lily's arm nervously and started to increase her rate of breathing.

"This was a bad idea," she said.

"You just said it was exciting," Liz pointed out.

"It was when we were in the castle. Let's turn back!" she said.

"No," Lily said forcefully. "We're going in. Now try to be brave." 

Jade, still holding tightly to Lily, progressed into the forest. It was very eerie inside of it. Tall trees filled it, and silence echoed from them. They all felt as if they were being watched.

Liz then grabbed on to Lily's shoulder and started to shiver with fear. There was a rustling noise.

"Did you hear that?" Jade asked.

"Uh huh," Liz said. Both of them tightened their grip on Lily. She did hear the noise but pretended not to. She pressed onward. She kept to the path and held her wand in front of her so she could see; they were getting deep into the forest.

"Lily," Jade said slowly as if saying it fast would scare up a beast with long teeth, "can we go back? I don't think they're here. Maybe they meant next Tuesday."

"I agree," said Liz. "Let's go back"

Lily stopped in her tracks and turned to face them. "Aren't you two in Gryffindor?"

They nodded.

"Gryffindors are supposed to be brave. You two are more scared than mice cornered by a cat."

"I have a confession to make. I lied to the hat," Jade said. "I told it I was brave because both you and Liz were in Gryffindor, and the hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw...I think. So I tried being brave, and it let me in."

"Yeah, I think the hat made a mistake with me, too. Well, maybe not. I'm not wise, hardworking, or cunning, so Gryffindor was the default house for me. I've been living a lie. So let's go back to the castle, shall we?" Liz said.

"I am ashamed of the two of you. Those guys were mocking us, saying we would tell on them, like second years. Doesn't that bother you?"

"Not anymore," they said in unison. "Let's go back up to the castle where it's safe and warm."

"No, I want to know what those four are up to. I'll go alone if you chickens aren't going to go." They didn't leave, though Jade did look behind her as if wanting to make a run for it. 

"What's that?" Liz asked nervously pointing ahead of her. Lily shined her wand on the spot.

"I don't know. Let's have a look," she said boldly, moving closer to the thing. It was behind a large rock, whatever it was, and didn't appear to be moving. Liz and Jade were almost pulling on Lily to stop, but she forced herself to see the creature.

"Is it dead?" Jade asked. Lily dropped her wand and put her hands to her mouth. Liz conjured her nerve and nudged the beast with her foot. It didn't move.

"It looks like it just died, doesn't it Lily?" Jade asked her, but Lily was almost in tears. The dead beast was a very large stag. "Lily, what's the matter?"

She pointed to it and covered her eyes.

"It's just a dead deer."

"No," she cried, "it's not. It's- "

"BOO!" someone yelled as they jumped out of the bushes.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the three screamed and huddled together before falling on the snow. 

Whoever said 'boo' was now laughing so hard they had to kneel on the ground. Three other boys joined him and added to the laughter. Lily got up so angry that she didn't even feel the cold snow on her back. She went after who she perceived to be James and started hitting him. He was still laughing and didn't stop Lily from smacking him around. The other three boys were also cackling so hard that they were crying. Liz took Lily's idea and started hitting Remus, and Jade hit Sirius a good few times.

"It's not funny!" Lily yelled, but she could have whispered it; it would have had the same effect. Once James had controlled himself, which took a very long time, he looked at Lily with a smile.

"It is funny, Lily. We all knew you would come down here. Curiosity got the best of you, didn't it?"

"What?" she asked confused.

"Well you must have opened Sirius's book and taken the small note to Remus, didn't you? Perfect Lily has left the castle and gone off to the Dark forbidden Forest to see what we were up to, risking detention and expulsion all for curiosity. I knew you would. I knew you would, and so you have. It's the funniest thing in the world," he said and started chuckling again.

"You scared me with that!" Lily yelled as she pointed to the stag. "Don't you ever do that to me again, James Potter, or I'll never speak to you."

"Okay," James said trying to calm down. He went to put his hands on her shoulders but she pushed him away. 

"Don't touch me. We're leaving," she said, and she took Liz and Lily by the wrists, grabbed her wand, and started to march out of the forest.

"Lily, don't go!" James cried after her, but she didn't listen.

"Why didn't we see it was a trick?" Liz asked.

"I don't know. They have gone too far with their little games. Sometimes I just really want to p- " but she was cut off as the ground the three of them were treading on suddenly left them. It was a net. They were in a net and being lifted high into the air inside it, tangled in it and around themselves. Once the net stopped ascending, they could hear the four boys laughing again. 

"Let us DOWN!" Lily screeched.

"Oh no, this is far too fun for us," Remus yelled to them.

"Remus, I'm warning you!" Liz yelled. "Just let us down, and I won't kill you. I know they bullied you into doing this, you just went along with it!"

"HA!" Sirius said. "This was his idea."

"That it was, Lizzy dear. My idea entirely, even the roped net. How do you like it?" The three girls struggled to move but couldn't seem to. Lily tried to turn over on her stomach so she could look at James, but she was stuck in between Jade and Liz who were trying to do the same thing.

"Curiosity killed the cat," James said. "Or should I say cats! Are you filming this, Peter?"

"Yeah," he said with the camera pointing at the jiggling bundle twenty feet above them and sniggering.

"Let us down, James!" Lily yelled. "This isn't funny anymore!"

"It is from down here, Love. But I think you're right. I'll let you down. Just hang on for a few more seconds." He took out his wand, pointed it at the net and mumbled under his breath. The net lowered slowly to the ground then disappeared. Liz fell first, then Lily on top of her and Jade on top of Lily. They unscrambled, dusted themselves off and stared at the four boys.

Lily was the first to speak: "I don't know what it is, how we're going to do it, or when it's coming. But be warned, it's coming. This means war." Liz and Jade nodded with her and started back up to the castle.

"I look forward to doing battle with you, Commander Evans!" James yelled after her. He watched her and her friends march out of the Forest and back up to the castle.

"'This means war!' What do they think they can do to us? We've already done everything good. What more is there to achieve?" Sirius said.

"Don't worry about it," James said. "They'll never think of anything deceptive."

* * * * *

Lily, Liz, and Jade were all out for breakfast very early the next morning. Neither of them slept well due to the fact that they were thinking up evil schemes in their heads. Of all of them, Lily seemed to be the most vindictive, but the other two were also quite angry and ready to fight back. The first volley of the war began Wednesday morning with a rather simple yet effective plan.

"So what are we going to do to them?" Jade asked.

"I say we set their pants on fire!" Liz said.

"Yeah!" Jade agreed. Lily looked at them and sighed.

"No, no, no," she said, taking out a small vial of pick liquid and a tube of lipstick. "You have to be patient with these things. I'm sure they spent weeks planning what they did to us, that's why they're so good at it; they have patience. I have thought of something very crude but extremely useful in my research last night that I think we should use, but it will take some time. But," she said as she took a sip of the pink liquid, "I also want immediate gratification, and I'm going to get it." Then she applied a generous amount of the pale lip balm on her lips and smiled at them.

"What is that stuff?" Liz asked.

"Our pleasure for the day. This isn't just your ordinary tube of cosmetics, you know. I have laced this with Corona potion. This vial contains the antidote."

"I still don't get it."

"Corona potion isn't life threatening, though it has some nasty symptoms. I have put it on my lips so that when James comes to kiss me, BAM! He's been poisoned. I, however, have taken the antidote, so I'll be fine."

Liz and Jade looked positively thrilled with the idea. 

"That is the best plan in the world. If only we could get the other two. I can easily use this with Remus, and if only you were dating Sirius, Jade, we could get him as well. Let me have some of that," Liz said, reaching for the two items. She took a sip from the vial, applied the lipstick, and smiled evilly. 

As expected, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter came into the Great Hall like war heroes returning from battle.

"God, look at them!" Jade said disgusted.

"Just act like you're bothered, but forgive them when they apologize. Liz, put those things in your pocket."

"Well hello ladies," James said with a smile. They didn't say anything. "Oh, we're not still sore, are we?" he sat down next to Lily and took her limp hand. "How long are you going to hate me?" he asked her.

"Forever," she answered without facing him.

"It was just a joke, Lily. We didn't mean anything by it."

"It wasn't very funny," Liz said. Remus inched closer to her and put his hands around her waist and kissed her cheek lightly. "What are you doing?" she asked him with a snarl.

"Making up," he said. "Can't I do that?"

"I want to hear ten words from you first," she said.

"What?"

"Liz, I'm sorry for what I did; it was wrong," she said. Remus smiled graciously at her and kissed her hands.

"Liz, I'm sorry for what I did; it was wrong. There, how was that?" he asked.

"Ah, that was perfect. Now let me smooch you," she said with a grin and pulled herself towards him and laid a huge kiss on his lips. James turned to look at Lily.

"Don't think that I'll be so forgiving, James Potter," she said.

"Look, I'm sorry that we scared you and strung you up in some trees, but you do have to admit it was very clever."

"No I don't. Try something else," she said.

"Lily, will you forgive my immature and irresponsible behavior?"

"You're getting warmer," Lily said smiling.

"I'll never do it again, I promise. I'm sorry," he said. Lily couldn't hold back any longer; she was afraid that the air might weaken the poison on her lips. She beamed at him and took hold of the back of his neck and kissed him for a very long time so she could successfully transfer the potion.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "This is nice. Remus and Liz making out right next to me, and James and Lily, going at it as if there was no tomorrow, across from me."

"You're just complaining because you aren't being kissed," Jade said to him snidely. Peter chuckled. 

"I don't see you with a woman, Peter," he said.

Professor McGonnagal came over to the table and cleared her throat. All kissing stopped.

"This isn't a street corner or an empty bathroom, you four," she said with her eyebrows raised. "Try to contain yourselves."

"Yes Professor," they all said. Lily was please to see in her small mirror that all of her lipstick was gone. Liz could hardly contain her excitement and kept smiling all through breakfast. Jade had to keep eating to keep from laughing. 

When the bell rang, James and Remus kissed Lily and Liz goodbye. Sirius tried to hug Jade, but she wouldn't have it. Then they went to Divination. Once they had left the Hall, the three girls exploded in laughter.

"So when will the potion take effect?" Jade asked.

"Oh I'd say about halfway through History of Magic," Lily answered with a huge grin.

"This is so fun. They don't even expect this. What are the symptoms?" Liz questioned.

"Well it starts with an upset stomach, pretty mild right? Then their eyes will start to burn to the point of tears. Soon their skin will prickle and crawl, and they'll have a series of severe hot flashes that will cause them to sweat profusely. Their stomach aches will increase tenfold, and to top it off they'll have some pretty bad migraines."

Liz and Jade laughed all the way to Arithmancy and couldn't wait 'til Professor Binns' class.

They were all very receptive to the boys as they came into the class talking about how Trelawny had talked about Remus's future with trolls, which made no sense at all. Lily and Liz smiled at them and allowed them to sit with them.

Professor Binns was droning on about something, they really weren't sure what, when James groaned and clutched his stomach. Jade elbowed Lily and winked. Then Remus started to do the same thing.

"Are you alright?" Lily asked. James nodded. He turned to look at her and smiled, but then he started blinking very rapidly and started to tear. "James? Are you sure you're alright?"

"My eyes hurt," he said rubbing them.

"Mine too," Remus said through gritted teeth.

"Whoa, they hurt a lot!" James almost yelled as giant tear drops poured down his face. "I think they're on fire!"

"Yeah, mine too!" Remus screeched. Then the two started to scratch all over; the entire class, except Binns, was watching them with great fascination. James stood up and ran around the class as if hoping the pain would subside. Now he was scratching, crying, and sweating while running around like a moron bouncing off the walls. This would have looked very strange if Remus was doing the exactly the same. They eventually ran into each other with a great "thud" and fell down on the ground where the continued to scratch, cry, and sweat. Remus took of his robe and his tie and threw them down. He started to unbutton his shirt as James was taking off his robe and tie, when Professor Binns finally followed the laughter and saw the two of them.

"Porter! Lufkin! What in God's name are you doing?" Lily, Liz, and Jade were biting their lips to keep from laughing.

"Nurse! We need to see the nurse!" Remus yelled as he stood and ran to the wall to scratch his back. Sirius and Peter ran to them and picked them up. James looked to be worse than Remus, who was now running in circles with red eyes.

Sirius grabbed James, who tried desperately to get away; Peter and a Hufflepuff boy took Remus and escorted them out of the class to the hospital wing. Everyone burst out laughing.

"How long does it last?' Jade asked.

"About an hour," Lily said casually as if instructing someone how long to keep a roast in the oven.

"Don't you think that's a bit rough on them?"

"Nah, they deserve it. They tricked us to go into the Dark Forest then scared us and captured us like animals in a net. Don't worry, they'll be fine once it wears off in a bit."

Madam Pomfrey was startled to see them as they looked to be convulsing. She tried asking them what was wrong, but they covered their ears and moaned because their heads were throbbing. Lily was right, it lasted for a good hour. Madam Pomfrey ordered Sirius and Peter to leave, so they went down to lunch.

Sirius found Lily to be laughing instead of being worrisome about James, which would have been more normal. He walked up to them and sat down.

"So..." he said looking at their smiling faces.

"So..." Lily said with a grin, "How are they? Wait, don't tell me. They have itchy skin, burning eyes, aching stomachs, hot flashes, and headaches, right?"

"Hmmm," Sirius said with a smirk. "How did you do it?" he asked in seriousness.

"A woman doesn't kiss and tell, now does she?" Lily said.

"Kissing. That's it isn't it? You kissed him, and she kissed Remus, that's why they're so sick. So how did you do it?"

"I'm not telling you. I'm just sad we didn't get you and Peter as well."

"You're entering into a league you don't want to enter, Lily," Sirius said as a threat. Jade and Liz smiled at his sour face.

"Oh really? And why is that?" Lily asked as she leaned forward across the table.

"We'll win. I'm warning you now that we will be victorious. We have been doing this for over six years. We know the territory, and you don't. Don't go to battle with us, you'll lose."

"We'll take our chances," Lily said firmly. Sirius smirked at them, got up, and walked out of the Hall. 

"What are we going to do, Lily?" Jade asked. Lily smirked evilly and faced them.

"We're going to get 'em!"

*

James and Remus had been informed about their "mysterious" illness and had now entered a state of war. They had pulled out all the stops; they each wrote down ideas, gathered equipment, and constantly discussed tactics in total secrecy. While out in public, however, they maintained their usual personalities. James still kissed Lily in the morning as if nothing was going on, but there was. Classes were as normal as possible for seven people planning disasters for each other.

I guess you could say that the first blow happened on Friday during Potions.

"Please take out your books and turn to page 312 to find the ingredients of today's potion," Professor Wicks said to his class. Lily, Liz, and Jade did just that and opened to the appropriate page and started to read the ingredients. 

James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter did the same thing. On page 312, however, of each of their books was a thick white parchment with the words "don't fink" written in red.

"'Don't fink?' What the hell does that mean?" Sirius asked James. Just as he did, the books started to rumble on the desk and in a fraction of a second a thick, black powder, like soot, shot out from the white parchment and covered their faces. It was impossible to even see James's pretty blue eyes because the lenses of his glasses, once sparkling clear, were now opaque with soot. Peter shook his head, and half of the soot fell of his light hair, though it was now very dark. The rest of the class, especially Snape, Robert Lestrange, and Douglas Lacy from Slytherin, were buckled over with laughter. James casually took of his glasses, which left two pink spots around his eyes, and looked at Lily, Liz, and Jade who were waving at them with huge grins spread on their faces.

"What is the meaning of this?" Wicks asked, very upset that his lesson had been interrupted by the usual suspects. Now they knew what the message "don't fink" meant. None of them said anything to Professor Wicks, and for that they were sent to Professor McGonnagal. Still covered in thick, black powder, the four went to see their head of house, who was very upset because she had to leave class to see them.

"Well," she said, "explain yourselves."

That was very difficult as all they could think of was getting even. If they told her the truth then not only were they a bunch of sissylalabedwetters who were getting beaten by three girls at their own game, but they were the ones who started the so-called war. So they just stared at her with their very guilty, soot covered faces.

"Detention for the four of you then," she said. "You will serve it tomorrow. I'll send notice by mail, but you are all too familiar with that. And Mr. Potter, the Head Boy. You should be ashamed of yourself. Do you see Miss Evans going about and making a mockery of herself? I don't think so. Now clean yourselves up and go to class."

James really wanted to tell her that Lily had done this to them, but he thought it would be a bad call. They went to the bathroom, cursed the girls, cleaned the soot off themselves (a lengthy process), and went back to class. Snape was still laughing over the matter.

"Get any in those pearly whites, darling?" Lily asked James with a kind smile.

"No, I didn't, Love."

"That's good, honeybunch."

"Isn't it, sugar lips?" he said, trying to remain calm. They took their seats and continued on with the lesson.

* * 

On Monday morning the euphoria of seeing the four pranksters being out tricked, still hadn't worn off.

"Did you see their faces?" Jade asked. "They were priceless! They certainly weren't expecting that one!"

They got dressed in the usual attire, spent several minutes prepping themselves in the bathrooms, and made their way down to breakfast.

"Good morning, dear!" James cheered before he kissed Lily.

"Good morning, sweetie. How did you sleep?"

"Well, and you?"

"Just fine; like a log." They ate breakfast at a normal pace, talked very superficially about the weather and classes. Things were all too formal for the seven of them. Once they had finished, James took Lily's hand, Remus took Liz's, and the other three followed them down to the greenhouses for Herbology.

Like in all other classes, they were unusually polite to one another. Professor Sprout came into the room, smiled, and instructed them to put their bags under the tables as they were dealing with some exceptionally violent snapdragons.

"I'll put your bag under the desk, my little, pretty one," James said with a cheeky smile to Lily.

"Oh, how sweet of you."

"Lizzy," Remus said, "May I also put your bag under the table? I want to be as much of a gentleman as I possibly can be."

"Why of course you can, baby doll," Liz responded.

"Jade," Sirius began.

"No," she said, "you may not touch my bag. Peter can." Peter took the bag and put it under the table with a slight grin to Sirius.

"Class," Sprout said, "the snapdragons are not what you assume them to be. They do not feed on insects like normal dragons do. I actually think they prefer fingers to anything else. I had a student lose a digit last week. Oh he was fine, not to worry, we killed the snapdragon and pried the finger from it's clenched teeth. So..." she said. "Dragon hide gloves on! Very good, let's get to it." She pulled several snapdragons out of her garden and put them on the table so the rest of the class could see them. She started to explain their purpose in life, when the plants got very angry about something and started to throw mud at everyone with their roots.

"Don't panic!" Sprout yelled, though her plants were now out of the pots and moving for the students like rabid dogs. It was utter chaos. The snapdragons seemed to find the students fear of them as a great source of amusement. They spit streams of a thick yellow liquid at everyone which smelled of dirty feet.

Professor Sprout had to get out a very large axe and kill all the snapdragons to bring order back. She was standing on the class table with the enormous axe ready for action; she looked like a Samurai warrior. "They're dead, you can relax. Well, seeing as how this didn't go as I planned, class dismissed. Oh, and the yellow goo that it stuck in your hair and all over your face, that's pollen. Soap and water should do the trick. Goodbye class!"

Lily probably had the most pollen on her face and hair than anyone else did. James tried wiping some of it off her face with his hands.

"Well, I did the best I could. I recommend a shower, though, for your hair."

"Gosh this stuff is so gross!" Liz said trying to take a rather large glob out of Remus's hair.

The entire class headed up to the tower to take showers, which did them a lot of good. Once the soap hit the pollen it washed right off. Once done and dressed, the girls proceeded to redo their makeup. They didn't wear much, as they were all very pretty, but just a little to touch up some blemishes. 

Jade reached into her bag for her powder compact, and started to apply it to her face while looking in the mirror. Liz began put on mascara, and Lily some lipstick. Everything seemed routine and normal until Jade screamed.

"AHHHHH!" she yelled, dropping her compact to the floor. Crawling on her hand up her arm were at least a dozen black spiders. Her face, which she had covered with a light layer of the powder, was also crawling with spiders. Lily ran over to her and swiped them off her face.

"Lily!" she yelled and pointed to her lips, but Lily could already feel them. As if hatching on her lips, the spiders grew and scuttled all over her face, and Jade tried to wipe them off, but Lily, who feared spiders, started to run around the bathroom like a headless chicken. Liz also began to scream as the spiders hatched on her eyes and crawled through her hair. Both Liz and Lily were screaming at the top of their lungs.

Liz shook her entire head violently and the spiders flew off and hit the walls. She and Jade ran over to Lily and held her down as they disposed of the arachnids. Once they were all spider free, they leaned against the wall and focused on breathing. They got over the initial shock very quickly, then got down to business.

"I could kill them," Jade said. "They put the spiders in our makeup. That is low. They need to be killed, and I'm going to kill them."

"They must have done it in the short time they had our backpacks," Liz said. "How could we have been so stupid as to give them our bags?"

"I don't know," said Lily thoughtfully. "James knows I hate spiders. He did this to get me. Fine, but we're going to get them back. They want to play with our makeup, do they? Well I don't want to deprive them of that."

* * * 

History of Magic and Lunch were very formal affairs bordering on coldness. Lily had to restrain herself, as well as Liz and Jade, from socking the four boys. They hardly spoke to one another for the rest of the day, but when they did it was very strained. The four of them were very smarmy for the rest of the day knowing that their eight-legged friends had accomplished their mission. Girls in the same year as Lily had told James that spiders were in their make-up, which gave him and the others a great delight.

That afternoon when James and Sirius went for Quidditch practice and Remus and Peter studied together in the library, Lily, Liz, and Jade went around to all the girls in the house asking for make-up, preferably very loud shades of lipstick, blush, and eye shadow. The response and support from the rest of the house was astounding. They had two buckets full of cosmetics to work with. They took the buckets up to their dorm room and organized them and decided what ones to use and whom to use them on.

Then they split up. Lily took her wand and waved it in the doorway of the Great Hall for a special effect for the next morning. Jade snuck into the boys dorm and put a spell on their all the boy's beds and the bathroom mirrors. Liz put a spell on the common room and informed some students of the plan and instructed them not to tell James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

That night, when all the students were asleep, Lily woke Jade and Liz, gathered the supplies and headed across the way. Lily pushed open the boys' door silently, walked inside, and headed toward James's bed. He was in it, of course, and was in a very deep sleep. Jade went to the bed adjacent to James's, for that's where Sirius slept. Liz went to Remus's and grinned. The girls pulled out their wands and placed them on their subjects' noses."Bewilderonum," they whispered. Then they got to work. Lily started first with an orange colored foundation all over his face, then bright red blush on his cheeks. She topped him off with some purple eye shadow and purple lipstick.

"This is so much fun," Jade said as she painted Sirius's fingernails a dark blood red.

"It sure is," Liz agreed. "Hey, what are we going to do to Peter?"

"The same," Lily said. "This is going to be great!" she whispered.

  
  


Tuesday morning James awoke slowly and looked at the clock on his bed stand. He then realized that he needed his glasses to see properly, so he grabbed those, put them on and looked at the clock again. It was 7:30, time to get up. He was probably the laziest of all the boys in his dorm when it came to getting out of bed, not counting Sirius who was still snoring. James sat up and saw that Remus and Peter were already dressed and nearly ready to go down for breakfast. James drug himself out of bed, hit Sirius a few times so he would wake, then proceeded to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth quickly, looked in the mirror, and tried to flatten his hair.

Sirius came stumbling in and did the exact same thing with more. He combed his hair, brushed his teeth till they squeaked, smiled at his reflection, and called it a day. When they dressed, the four of them walked down to the common room and were received most unusually. A lot of people seemed to be pointing and laughing at them. James and Sirius looked at each other in utter confusion. Each of them checked themselves for toilet paper on their shoes or 'kick me' signs on their backs, but they just looked normal. They tried to shake it off, but it got worse once they left the common room. Huge clicks of people walked by and pointed at them laughing hysterically.

"What is so funny?" Sirius asked them, but this only made them laugh more. One student collapsed to the floor and banged his fists while laughing at the four of them.

"That's it. There has to be something wrong with us. Let's give each other a look," James said as he examined the other three, but nothing appeared to be wrong. "Maybe they all know something about us that we don't."

"Like what?" Sirius asked. "We've already served our overly long detentions and gotten our revenge on our counterparts. What can possibly be this amusing to them?"

"Do you think they put a spell on the entire school to mock us?" Remus said.

"That would be very difficult. Maybe they put a spell on us to think they're laughing at us, but they're really not?" James said. "Whatever it is, it's a good one. Let's just try to ignore it."

But they were laughed at all the way to the Great Hall for no apparent reason. When they entered the Hall, however, a sudden wave of realization hit them. The Hall, which was almost filled with students at breakfast, howled and pointed at the four of them. Sirius saw that even Professor McGonnagal, stern, strict McGonnagal was sniggering. Dumbledore, Professors Gellar, Flitwick, Wicks, and Hagrid all stood up and roared. Peter looked over at Lily, Liz, and Jade who were clearly having the most fun with this, and they waved their fingers at him. Peter looked at his three friends and suddenly saw what was so funny.

Remus looked like an Egyptian Princess with sky blue eye shadow and orange lipstick. James looked like a total transvestite but wasn't dressed in woman's clothing. But Sirius, Sirius was the crème of them all. His hair was green and curly. His face was white and he wore a deep red lipstick with black lip liner. Around his eyes were black circles outlined in gold; he also had red nail polish. Each of them gawked at one another. Students were running up to them and taking their picture. 

"Ah," Lily said as she made her way through the crowd to see them. She was flanked by Liz and Jade who couldn't stop grinning. "Don't you four look pretty. That's what happens when you play with makeup. Try to be more conservative next time, James. And Remus, too much color around the eyes."

"And Sirius," Jade said finally able to speak, "you hit it right on the nose. I have never seen the real you before; a circus clown!" she laughed and stomped her feet on the ground. 

Wanting desperately to attack them but knowing they couldn't, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter ran as fast as the could out of the Hall and into the nearest boys bathroom. Then they saw themselves in the mirror. Peter looked like a combination of the three: green hair, orange lipstick, and purple eye shadow. They turned on the faucets and splashed their faces with cold water, but they didn't care.

"You know," Sirius said angrily as he rubbed the paint of his face with a paper towel, "our pranks against them have been private...somewhat. This is the third time they have humiliated us! We need to get them!"

"I agree. But I can't think of anything that would do that, unless we recycle their ideas, and that's not going to happen," James said.

"Why didn't we notice ourselves?" Peter asked as he washed his hair.

"They bewitched the mirrors, probably. That was Jade's doing. And they must have put us under a spell so we wouldn't see each other 'til we got to the Great Hall. So far they're topping us at our own game," James said.

"What are we going to do to them?" Sirius asked.

"Let's freak them out somehow. So what if we can't humiliate them," Remus explained. "They only humiliate us because they can't scare us. We can scare them and have so far. I think we should stick with what works."

"Good point, Remus," Sirius said. "So who knows how to remove this green from our hair?"

* * * *

"Did you see the looks on their painted faces when they saw each other?" Jade said at the dinner table with satisfaction. "I'm sorry to say, well maybe I'm not sorry, but Sirius looked the most revolting of all."

"You did an exceptionally good job on him, Jade," Liz said.

"Yes, you can tell there's passion there," Lily said. Jade smiled.

"Oh, here they come!" Jade said. She was right, James was in the lead, of course, followed by the other three who looked smug.

"Hey pretty ladies," Jade said to them.

"Ha, ha. That is so funny. Alright that was a good one, I must admit. But the war isn't over yet. I promise we will prevail in this, for we have more experience at this than you three," James said not sitting next to Lily but on the other side of the table with his three friends.

"Yeah, well," Lily said taking sip of her drink, "I think we've done fairly well so far, and we'll continue to do so until we win. If you four don't admit your loss then we'll continue to humiliate you in front of the entire school. The choice is yours boys."

"Don't you think you're clever," Remus said. "We'll get you back. We will get you back, and you'll have to concede."

Lily and Liz smiled at him. "Blue's a good color for you, Remus," Liz said with a chuckle.

"Oh, Sirius," Jade said, "you still have the polish on your fingers. You might want to pick that off before the next class." Sirius looked down at his fingers and saw she was right. He put them in his pockets and frowned at her. "It's a very lovely shade on you. I picked it out myself," Jade continued on.

"What is your problem?" Sirius asked her. "You have been nothing but cruel to me for a few months now."

"Oh, poor you," Jade said. "For once someone isn't enamored with your high confidence and dashing good looks. You'll get over it, Sirius. I'm going to class, Lily," she said as she got up from her seat. 

"Yes, I'll think I'll join you. Liz are you coming?" she said. Liz nodded, got up, and left with the other two.

"What are we going to do to them?" Remus asked as he pounded his fists on the table. "They are getting too happy with themselves. This needs to be stopped!"

"I know," James said. He ran his hands through his hair and stared down at the table. "I think we're going to have to return to the basics, you know? Something simple yet effective."

"She really hates me, doesn't she?" Sirius asked. "Jade really hates me. You know what's really scary about her hating me?"

"What?" James asked.

"It makes me attracted to her. How sick is that?"

"Pretty sick," Peter said playing with his spaghetti.

"Yeah," Sirius said shaking his head.

"Can we focus please?" Remus said with anger. "Jade painted you as a clown, Sirius, a clown. Fall in love later, and focus now!"

"Remus," James said in stunned amazement, "I'm really proud of you. You want to get them don't you?"

"Yes. They're beating us at our own game. We have to show them who's better."

James thought for a short while then shot up in his seat. "I've got it!"

  
  


Lily woke suddenly at one in the morning. She thought she had heard something but didn't. She lay back down and tried to relax. It became increasingly difficult to sleep now that they were at war with the boys. Any little prickle she felt on the back of her neck she would swing around and expect to hit someone hiding under the cloak. But for now everything seemed safe; she was just being paranoid.

A half hour later, however, Jade awoke with a start. She thought she had felt something crawling around her legs but was too afraid to look. Then she felt it again. Goose bumps popped up all over her body as she reached her hand out for her sheets.

"AHHHHHH!" she screamed as she saw at least two hundred black beetles crawling all over her. She immediately woke the entire room. Liz threw her sheets off and saw the same thing; the beetles were crawling up her legs and onto her torso moving to her head. Lily also suffered the same fate and screamed bloody murder.

"What's wrong?" Summer Dale asked as she got out of bed.

"AHHHHH!" was all they had to say. All three of them jumped out of their beds at the same time and at the same time they all wished they hadn't. The moment their feet touched the floor, giant buckets full of thick molasses dropped on top of their heads. They screamed even more, ran into the bathroom and got into the showers, clothes and all.

It took forty-five minutes to get the molasses out of their hair, and when they did their anger came rushing back.

"That's it," Jade said with her teeth gritted. "I'm going to strangle them. They need to be strangled at the very least. Maybe we should beat them with bats. Yeah, Sirius's beater bat! Oh please let me hit them! Just a few times!"

"No," Lily said as she battled to put the comb through her hair. "We don't want to hurt them."

"We don't?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, why don't we want to hurt them?" Liz asked.

"Because," was all Lily could say. She too harbored a secret desire to smack the four of them around for a bit.

"We have to do something fast. You know they heard us scream. I'll bet they're in there celebrating right now. I can just hear them hyuking it up in there," Jade said.

"No kidding, Lily. We have to act fast, like tomorrow morning at least. Something simple to tide us over."

"I know," she said. "God look at my beautiful hair! They destroyed my beautiful hair, those numbskulls. Just think of something we could do to them. I'm out of ideas!"

"Me too," Jade said. "My hair is still sticky. I'm going to have to shower again."

Liz dropped her comb. "What did you say?"

"I said I'd have to shower again," Jade said to her.

"No, you said it was sticky," Liz said with triumph on her face. Lily looked at her with a huge smile.

"Oh I hope I'm thinking the same thing you are, Liz, because if I am..."

"This is going to be good!" 

* * * * *

After spending most of the night de-beetling the dorm room and shampooing their hair at least three times, they had a hard time sleeping. They spent the rest of the night looking in their school books for the perfect fix. They knew exactly what they were looking for, but it was finding it that was the great problem.

When the time arrived to go to class, they put away their things and left. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all looking rather impressed with themselves at the bottom of the stairs.

"How did you sleep?" James asked with a huge smirk.

"Fine," Lily said.

"Yeah, just fine. Better than you four will tonight," Jade said.

"That's for darn sure," Liz agreed.

"I could have sworn that I heard some screams of fear coming from your direction last night. Are you sure everything was alright?" Sirius asked.

"Yep. You must have been imagining things, Sirius" Jade said. "Maybe that green dye soaked through and affected your brain cells....No, wait they were like that before the dye."

"What is your problem?" Sirius asked her.

"Well that seems obvious. You just proved your brain cells capability. You're my problem," she replied.

Sensing danger coming, Lily and Liz grabbed Jade and walked out of the common room and down to breakfast.

"Okay," Liz said as she piled eggs onto her plate, "so we didn't find it in our books. Where can we get it?"

"I don't know where you would find it. I don't remember where I saw it last. It's not really a potion so I don't know that we would find it a potion book," Lily said.

"And it's not in any store in Hogsmeade, I checked the catalogs for it," Jade said. Lily thought about her options for a short while then came to only one conclusion. 

"McGonnagal. We have to ask her," she stated.

"Are you crazy?" Jade asked. "She'd never tell us."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I think she's pretty tired of those four always causing trouble. She might like it if we hit them back. She's not so tough underneath it all, you know. The worst thing that can happen is for her to say no."

"And then detention," Liz said.

"She doesn't give frivolous detentions. I'm asking her. If you don't want to come, then don't."

The two looked at her for a little while, then heard a round of applause coming from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor as James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter came parading through the Hall. The news of their latest victory had obviously been announced; Lily was too involved with getting them back to have noticed all the pointing of fingers in her direction.

"Let's ask her, and let's ask her now," Jade said with absolution. She got up, picked up her books and marched out of the Hall with Lily and Liz in tow. "Lily I think you should be the one to ask, since you're Head Girl and all."

"No problem," she said as she went up to McGonnagal's desk. 

McGonnagal looked up over her spectacles and smiled. "What can I do for you, Lily?" She called Lily by her first name since becoming Head Girl, though she still called James, 'Mr. Potter,' or ignored the mister.

"I have a small favor to ask you."

As part of the deal with Professor McGonnagal, Lily promised they would pull their latest prank in Transfiguration the next day. So to keep suspicion up, the three of them huddled and whispered when the warring party was around.

"I can't believe McGonnagal not only said yes but gave it to you," Jade said.

"I know. You'd think she would have at least hesitated about it."

"I told you she would say yes. Did you see the grin on her face as we told her about it?" Lily said.

"What are we whispering about?" James asked as he sat next to Lily.

"You," she said. "We're talking about you."

"Ah, isn't that sweet. It's nice to know I'm so important to you," he said.

"Yeah, isn't it though? Now that you're here, we're going to start our homework so you can go play with your friends now."

"But I want to spend time with you," he said so sweetly that everyone in hearing range wanted to vomit.

"No you don't. You have been urged by your posse to come over and find out what we're going to do to the four of you next. I'm not telling you so you can just go back and do whatever it is that you do with them."

"I'm hurt," he said mockingly.

"Go away James," Lily said. "And don't even think about taking my backpack because I can see your fingers reaching for them."

James smiled cheekily at her, kissed her lightly then walked back to his three friends.

"They're desperate," Lily said with relish.

"Lily, out of curiosity, how long are we going to continue this?" Jade asked.

"Until they give up. You're not thinking about quitting are you? Remember the beetles and the molasses and the spiders and the net in the tree? They did that to us. They started this war, but we are going to end it, right?"

"Right," Liz said. "What if they never give up? Will we be fighting after Hogwarts too?"

"Don't be ridiculous. We'll win. I know we will. Now let's start Arithmancy before it gets too late; we want to rest ourselves."

The next morning they had Charms with the Ravenclaws, which didn't go fast enough. David Butterfield sat next to Jade, who smiled and blushed; Sirius crushed his ink well.

When Charms was over, Jade talked to David in the corridor which distracted Sirius, which there in distracted the other three. Lily and Liz said they'd meet Jade in class then left. As soon as they turned the corner they ran as fast as they could to Transfiguration. McGonnagal was standing excitedly at the door, giddy as a school girl. She closed it when Liz and Lily came in.

"Do you still have it?" she asked them.

"Yes, Professor," Lily said. She walked over to the front corner of the classroom to where James sat, took a small tube of glue from her cloak pocket and applied it to the chair.

"You know I don't approve of this, but someone has to teach them a lesson," McGonnagal said with dignity. She looked very conflicted at the moment as if she shouldn't be showing students her softer side.

"You're secret's safe with us," Lily said smiling as she applied more glue to Remus's seat. Once she completed all four seats, she sat down in her own with Liz right by her. The door opened and the rest of the class filed in. Sirius could be heard arguing with Jade over the other babble. James and the others were so distracted by the drama that they didn't even look in their seats before they sat down. Lily fought a giggle.

"Today," McGonnagal started, looking around the class, "We will be performing human transfiguration. There is nothing to fear, it's not permanent. Who would like to volunteer?"

No one raised their hand.

"How about you, Mr. Pettigrew?" Peter shook his head. "Yes, Pettigrew, come up to the front of the class." But he still shook his head. "Pettigrew, what is the matter?"

"I-I don't want to be transfigured," he squeaked.

"It's not going to hurt you. Now get up here!" Reluctantly, Peter stood up, but the chair came with him; the class laughed, Peter sat back down.

"What is the meaning of this?" McGonnagal asked. "Did you glue your bottom to the chair?" Peter's eyes were as big as saucers and his cheeks went red.

"No," he almost questioned.

"Well them come up here without the chair." But Peter couldn't do that. The moment he stood up the chair came with him. His face became more red with each passing second. He sat back down, pushed down on the chair and tried sitting up.

RIP!

The class roared with laughter as everyone sitting behind Peter could now see his lavender colored underwear. He sat back down and put his hands over his face.

"That's enough!" McGonnagal said over the noise. "Pettigrew, go get new robes." He nodded his head and scuttled out of the room with his hands covering his bottom. "If we could all focus back now onto transfiguration, thank you. Mr. Potter, would you be so kind to step up to the front, this is your best subject." 

James was very hesitant about this and turned to look back at Sirius who looked just as worried. James stood slowly and, sure enough, up came the seat. Amongst the laughter, James tried to take of his cloak, but that didn't help. It seemed that the glue or whatever was on his seat had soaked through.

"Is this some kind of joke, Mr. Potter?" she asked. James twisted his neck to look at Lily who was beaming with triumph. "Well, Mr. Potter?"

"No, Professor, there was just something on my seat."

"Oh really? Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, would you also stand." Slowly they both rose with the chairs stuck to their rears. They looked totally humiliated.

"Is this another joke?" McGonnagal asked with her eyebrows cocked.

"No," James said. "I think someone put something on our chairs to make it look that way."

"And who in this class, would do such a thing? Other than you that is?" she asked.

"Well I don't know," James said quietly with his hands folded in front of him, "perhaps Miss Evans?"

"Don't be ridiculous," she said. "Why would she do such a thing? She never has before."

James didn't answer. The entire class was looking at him as if he had been declared idiot of the world. 

"Well, Mr. Potter?" she asked again.

"I don't know, Professor," he said, though he wanted to blame Lily.

"I see. Go to your dormitory and fix the problem, that goes for all three of you." Thankful that she didn't issue a detention, James turned, hit the desk behind him with his wooden legs and waddled out of the class. Sirius and Remus joined him with their chairs clanking each other as they walked down the hall.

"They glued our asses to the chairs! They glued our asses to the chairs!" Sirius said as he dug his fingernails into his palm. "How are they doing this to us?"

"This has to stop," Remus said as his chair hit James's.

"We need to do something drastic," James said.

"Yeah, but what?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know I can't think with this thing on my bum. Why do I have to come up with all the ideas?"

"Because you think of them faster," Remus said.

"Okay, we just need to...I don't know!"

"Let's all take a breather and think about this for a while. First, let's get these chairs off, then we'll deal with those girls.

* * * * * *

Snape looked as though Christmas had come early once he had caught word of James's dilemma. On Friday he warned James repeatedly about watching where he sat. All through Potions he kept talking loudly about how he would leave the school if he were James.

"Don't worry about it," Sirius whispered to him, "he does wish he was you."

It seemed like it had been a very long week to the seven of them, and they were all very glad that there was a Hogsmeade weekend to look forward to.

James had given the Quidditch team a little break and canceled Friday practice to which they were all grateful. But James didn't rest. He, Sirius, and Remus (Peter was still too ashamed to come down from his dorm) were working very busily at a table in the corner. When Liz went over to see, they all put their work under the table. What they were doing would be answered in a short while.

After a long week, Lily, Liz, and Jade were very tired and fell fast asleep as soon as their heads made contact with their pillows. But Lily was still very nervous about the on goings of her little war and was awoken quite suddenly in the middle of the night. She threw off her covers and got out of bed.

"Who's there?" she asked in a whisper. She felt very stupid doing it, like she was overly paranoid, but she was at battle.

No one was there but she felt a presence. "James?" she said. Still not even a slight noise. She shook it off and went to go back to bed when she felt a hand around her lips and her waist and she was carried out of the dorm, trying to scream.

  
  


Jade was the first to wake on Saturday morning, then Liz. They talked about what they thought the boys were going to try next and laughed it off because they weren't going to win. They sat on their bed and watched the clock tick on wondering if Lily would wake soon. Finally, Jade went up to the bed to see if she was even in it, and cried out when she opened the curtains.

Liz came running over and saw a note lying on Lily's pillow. She picked it up, opened it and read: 

'Leader takes leader, 

I hope you will miss. 

Go here to find the first kiss.'

"They took Lily!" Jade said.

"But where?"

"I don't know. It's a clue but I don't get it," Jade said. They both looked at it for several seconds before Jade hit her head. "I got it, Myrtle's bathroom!" They ran out of Gryffindor tower to the bathroom and thrust open the door. They could hear Myrtle sobbing in her toilet but tried to ignore her. They went to the other side of the wall behind the sinks. Lily wasn't there but another note was. It read: 

'Seek to find the one we took. 

To chase us, here you must look. 

You must know by now that the one we keep, 

Thinks we have you two quite beat.'

They exchanged very confused looks and read it again.

"Well that's vague," Liz said. "That could be anywhere."

"Wait a second," Jade said. She read it a few more times then smiled. "Seek, chase, keep, beat. It's rather brilliant actually."

"Why?" Liz asked confused.

"Don't you get it? Seeker, Chaser, Keeper and Beater! The next clue is on the Quidditch field."

"We have to go all the way down there just to get the next clue? It's cold out there!"

"So wear a scarf. Come on," Jade said, and they trudged through the snow to the field. The next note was in a red envelope near the main entrance to the field. Jade picked it up and read: 

'Ah alas this is the last note we leave. 

I hope this final task you can achieve.

Think not of an English King,

Nor of a diamond ring.

Subtract a founder of Rome,

Who lives in a country home.

Forget the small, shy one,

Whose other name can be Simon.

To find the innocent flower,

You must first search this tower.'

"We're never going to find her," Liz said.

"She's in a tower," Jade said looking up at the castle.

"Yeah, there are many and she's not in Gryffindor. That leaves about twenty left and we don't know how to get to half of them."

"So what is the clue?" Jade asked looking it over many times.

"English King, diamond ring? This makes no sense," Liz said. "I really hate riddles. No wonder they were working so hard yesterday. Just reading it gives me a headache."

"Yeah. This one is tough. English King, diamond ring? Founder of Rome, country home?"

"Wait, Remus lives in the country!" Liz said with excitement.

"Romulus and Remus founded Rome! That's it! English King and diamond ring is James! He gave the ring to Lily and how many kings have that name!" she exclaimed jumping up and down.

"Okay, okay. But we're not supposed to know their names, cause it says 'think not' and 'subtract'. The small one must be Peter so the one missing is Sirius. Now what?"

Jade thought hard and looked at the riddle again. "'Innocent flower, that's Lily. So they all have to do with name origins, doesn't it? How does this help with Sirius?"

"Gosh I don't know. You're the one who loves him."

"Well, Sirius is..."

"A star!" Liz said. "I got it! The Astronomy Tower! I got it, I got it!" she sang as she danced in the snow.

"Let's go!" Jade yelled and started to run back to the castle. They ran up the stairs, past many doors and paintings, and up the long spiral staircase to the Astronomy tower. The door was unlocked; they opened it and pushed hard. Lily was smiling at them when they came in. She was still wearing her pajamas and also James's black cloak.

"You found me!" Lily shouted and she ran for them. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all grinning in the corner as they watched. "I was watching you in the field. You guys got that pretty fast."

"I got it!" Liz said. "Jade got the other two, but I got this one!" she said waving the note in her hand.

"Did they treat you okay?" Jade asked her.

Lily grinned, "Yeah they did."

"No torture?" Liz asked.

"No, no torture," Lily laughed.

"So what happens now?" Jade asked.

"Well," Lily said, "we were talking this morning and last night about that."

"And?" they both asked. James came up behind Lily and put his hands on her shoulders.

"And we thought it would be best to call a truce," he said, Lily nodded. "We consider you three as equals. We completely underestimated your ability to humiliate us. You three did very well and we could fight for the rest of the year like this."

"But we want to stop. That's why they kidnapped me, so we could talk it out and negotiate," Lily said.

"So it's all over," Jade said a bit relieved. "Thank goodness. No more spiders or beetles."

"Or molasses," Liz added. She smiled and went over to Remus and hugged him. 

Jade could feel Sirius looking at her, but she didn't make eye contact. She shook James, Remus, and Peter's hands but overlooked Sirius, who put out his hand to her. She took it reluctantly then dropped it quickly.

"Jade," Sirius said with concern, "what have I done?"

"You've done nothing," she said lightly but with a slight tone or anger. "Are we going to Hogsmeade?" she asked everyone else.

"Yeah, I have to change though," Lily said.

"Alright, I'm going to go down to breakfast," Jade replied and then took off. James looked Sirius straight in the eye and whispered to him, "Go after her!" Sirius didn't need telling twice. He ran down the staircase for her.

"Jade, wait up!" he called, but she kept walking. "Hey," he said as he pulled her back. "What is the matter with you? You've been treating me like garbage for months now, and I'm tired of it."

"Oh, poor you," she said.

"Tell me what is my crime?"

"Intense egotism," she said and started to walk off again.

"What? Look all five of those people up there like me fair enough with my ego and all. You used to like me, love me even, but now I don't know what your problem is."

"There is no problem," she said.

"Well I'm glad we settled that one," he said sarcastically.

"Yep."

"Where are you going now? Off to snog David Butterfield?"

"You have a problem with that?" she asked.

"Only that I compete against him next week, and he tried hitting on my best friend's girlfriend."

"Oh come now. He was not, and even if he was, she was his ex-girlfriend at the time. I thought we discussed this already; he was talking to me."

"That's not what it looked like."

"Then maybe you're the one who needs glasses."

"That's harsh. Got anything else before you marry Butterboy?" 

"Get out of my face, Sirius!"

"No, you get out of mine."

"I was here first! You came after me so you get out of my face!"

"You know what Jade?"

"What?" she asked angrily.

"I don't want to be your friend anymore." Jade was taken aback but tried not to show it.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, that's so."

"Why may I ask?"

"Because I officially hate you," Sirius said putting his hands on his hips.

"How mature of you. Well, if we're going to act like children, since every thing needs to be brought down to your level, I hate you back!"

"You sound a lot like Lily when you fight, you know that?"

"Don't change the subject. So we're no longer friends?"

"No. I don't want to be friends with you anymore, things just aren't working out."

"Fine, I don't want to be friends with you either!" she shouted.

"Fine, neither do I."

"Fine," she said.

"Fine."

"So that's settled then."

"I guess so. We're no longer friends."

"Great!" she felt like she could cry and wanted to run away from him to her dorm.

"Perfect! I didn't like us as friends anyway," he said. And then as if out of nowhere, Sirius put his hands on the back of her neck and pulled her towards him and kissed her passionately.


	20. Romance, Choices and The Scout

***The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn't to be sold, reproduced or taken as true. Characters and locations belong to J.K. Rowling, no copyright infringement is intended. ON a lighter note, for all those who believe in God, join with me in praying for book five's completion and publication.***

Author's note: I am so sorry for taking forever and a day when I left you all hanging like I did. I had finals then Christmas came and I had a real tough time starting this chapter. I have already started the next one so that should make some of you happy. This site is going to make some changes so there will be outages from time to time, but I'm sure it will make the page better in the long run. If that does happen I won't send the chapter to you personally because I'll be too busy with 21. Also, if you are writing reviews, which I love, but you have a complaint about a character or you want the next chapter, bla bla bla, please leave me your email address so I can give you info and make you like Jade (yeah that's to some of you, Kai). Thanks to all of the 'motivational' letters that you sent me, it put a fire under me. This chapter isn't my greatest work, but it's what I'd call a 'filler' chapter. I had to...well, I've said too much. And now, without further ado, I give you chapter twenty. 

Part Seven: Romance, Choices, and the Scout

"Those who love you want nothing but your smile and true happiness." 

Of all the things that had been going through her busy mind, having Sirius's lips on hers was certainly the last thing she expected, however welcomed. It was more than she imagined. Jade had been dreaming of this moment for years now, seeing it in her dreams over and over like the final scene in the Muggle movie Casablanca, which she had watched with Lily once over the summer. She knew how childish it sounded, and how silly she was, but she was just a young girl.

Sirius looked into her dark eyes and smiled warmly.

"Hi," he said gently as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Hi," she said in a weak state of euphoria. 

"Things are going to be different now, you know," he said.

"Yeah."

"A lot different."

"Change is good sometimes," she said grinning.

"I guess it is." He turned around when he heard the others descending the stairs. "Let's get out of here, shall we?"

"Okay," she said and took his hand. 

"Have you thought about how you're going to tackle Ravenclaw this weekend, James?" Remus asked.

"They way we always do it-we're just better. Butterfield leads his team like trolls. He has no plays, no strategy..."

"So he actually tells his team to have fun and try to put the Quaffle through a hoop?" Remus asked with a slight grin.

"Exactly! How can you win with those methods? Anyway, it's good for us. Last year we slaughtered them, and next weekend I plan the same fate."

"You know, it's not just about winning."

"Yes it is, Remus, and don't let anyone tell you it isn't. You know what I always say about people that say 'it's not if you win but how you play the game', right?"

"No, what do you say?" he asked sniggering.

"They're losers. Winning is fun."

"Have you talked to Lily much about Quidditch, since...well you know, you were there."

"No I haven't, but I never really talked about it with her before. She just goes to the games and watches. She doesn't particularly care about the game itself."

Remus shook his head. "Actually, she's very involved in the game. I had to deflect a curse that she sent at a Hufflepuff last year because he hit you."

"Is that right?" he asked.

"Oh yeah. She had all the Gryffindors cheering and laughing at her, too." Just then the door to the Three Broomsticks opened, and Lily and Liz came rushing in with their scarves over their faces. 

"It's freezing out there," Lily said as she sat next to James. "I just heard the weather report on the radio; supposedly it's going to be really stormy next weekend."

"That's not what they said yesterday!" James exclaimed. "They said it was going to be clear as a bell."

"Are you sure? 'Cause they said it was going to be a lighting and thunderstorm with heavy showers," Lily said then took a sip of Butterbeer. 

"Yeah I'm sure. I remember Sirius saying 'How can a bell be clear?'"

Liz laughed.

"Where is he anyways?" Remus asked.

"Who knows? He wasn't in the dormitory or in the Great Hall. Your guess is as good as mine."

"I don't know where Jade is either," Lily said with a smirk.

"Oh really," James said grinning. "Hmmmm....I wonder what they're up to."

"I hope they are," Liz said.

"Speaking of which," Lily said, going into her bag, "I need you to look at some things, James." She pulled out several envelopes full of parchment.

"What is this?" he asked. She spread them out all over the table for him to see.

"Fonts," she replied.

"How do fonts remind you of Sirius and Jade?"

"They are fonts for our wedding invitations, silly. Now, I picked out the ones I really liked, so now you need to decide."

James looked at each of them and wrinkled his nose. There had to at least be one hundred fonts, each very loopy and fancy.

"I didn't realize we even had a date or a guest list," he said looking at one font he swore was just circles all entangled.

"September the 8th, and friends and family," she said quickly.

"September the 8th? I was never told about this."

"I meant to tell you, but I forgot when I was putting makeup on your face. Is that day okay for you? It's a Saturday."

James rolled his eyes, "Yeah, that's fine. Just be sure to tell me where it is so I can get there on time."

"Sure thing," she said.

"Lily, all of this writing looks the same."

"They're not, just pick one."

"Lily," Liz said in a high-pitched voice, "who's going to be your maid of honor? Me or Jade?"

Lily's eyes skirted around the room then back onto the parchment with the fonts.

"So pick one James," she said. "I really like this one here." She pointed to a font in the corner.

"I can't even read it, what does it say?"

"'Lily and James'," she said flatly.

"I don't care, Lily. I really don't. You pick it."

"Where are we going to hold the ceremony?" she asked as she rolled up the parchment.

"This is just off the top of my head here, but how about a church?" James said.

"Who's going to be your maid of honor, Lily?" Liz asked again but this time with more interest. Lily got up and said she had to use the rest room, but Liz followed her.

"I smell trouble," Remus said.

"And howdy," James said. The door to the Three Broomsticks creaked open, and a wave of cold air swept through the room. James could hear loud footsteps falling heavily on the floor.

"Well, well, well," said a deep monotone voice filled with hate, "Potter and the animal, I see." Snape came over and he leaned his knuckles on their table. "Even wild beasts can enjoy human company?" he asked with a cruel sneer.

James stood up and moved over to him. He was a few inches taller than Snape, so he could look down on him. 

"You're the animal, Snape," he said. Then Snape's friends, Lestrange and Rosier, came up behind him. Remus stood next to James.

"You'd better watch yourself, Potter," Lestrange said, fiddling with something in his cloak pocket. "It would be such a shame if something...tragic were to happen."

"Are you threatening me?" James asked smirking and crossing his arms. Lily and Liz came up and stood next to James. Lily looked right into Snape's cold eyes and wrapped her arms around James.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

Snape moved even closer to him, who didn't back down, and whispered so that only he and Lily could hear. "I know you have a secret. One day, Potter, I'll discover it and expose you."

James smirked. "You feel free. I'll see you around." He took Lily by the hand and started for the door. "Oh, and Severus," he said turning again, "I know you have some skeletons in the closet. Not a good position for you to be in, my knowing your secrets, that is. Good day to you." The four of them left and started walking in the cold weather to where they didn't know.

"'One day, Potter,'" James said in a whiny voice with his lip curled, "'I'll expose you.' I swear he wears diapers. I just really wish I could pop him one."

"He's a jerk, James, don't worry about him," Lily said.

"It's like his mother never loved him or something. I think it's his mission in life to make everyone other than himself miserable."

"Should we go back up to the castle where it's warm?" Liz asked. Seeing that there was really nothing else to do that hadn't already been done, James nodded, and they went back to the castle.

Peeves was in an especially good mood for some reason. He was throwing food at second years who were dashing across the corridor to avoid him. Lily, who had her wand at the ready since she saw Snape, took it out and pointed it at him threateningly.

"Peeves, knock that off or I'll curse you!" she said.

Peeves did a somersault in midair and stuck his tongue out at her. Lily smiled greatly then shouted "Pansonic!" In a second Peeves was hurtled through the air at the wall where he banged all the armor and paintings, then looked astounded at her.

"I warned you," she said. Peeves frowned, cursed, then flew off. The second years cheered for her. "I wish we could find out where Jade is."

"So Lily," Remus said wanting to stir more trouble, "who are you going to assign the duty of the maid of honor?" Liz looked anxious.

She rolled her eyes and grinned. "Seeing as how I have two best friends, I am going to let them fight over it. I can't pick just one of them because then the other would be hurt. So Liz and Jade can decide amongst themselves." She looked thoroughly pleased with her decision and moved on.

"Lily! How can we do that?"

"Not my problem," she sang and danced off to Gryffindor Tower. Liz broke out into a run and followed her.

"I can only assume that Sirius is your best man, correct?" Remus said.

"Yeah. I've known him all my life, and that has to count for something," he said. "That doesn't hurt your feelings, does it?" James asked sarcastically. Remus grinned. 

"No, it doesn't. James?"

"Hmm," James said looking at him seriously.

"You've told Lily everything about you, right?" Remus asked.

James nodded and looked at him more deeply, for he knew what was going to come next. James steered him into an empty classroom to talk.

"Should I tell Liz about my," he hesitated, "my condition?"

James sat on a desk and stared at him.

"That's up to you, Remus. If you think you're going to be with her for a really long time, for the rest of your life, even, then I would have to say yes. But if not, then no. I told Lily about what I was, but that's because she threatened to end it all if I couldn't trust her. I also knew that I wanted to marry her since I laid eyes on her, which is strange I know."

"What do you think she'd do if I told her?"

"You know her better than I do. It's a good bet she already knows, actually. Lily does. She's known for I don't know how long, and if she knows...Girls can't keep good secrets."

Remus nodded thoughtfully.

"I really wouldn't worry about it, Remus. We didn't care when we figured it out, and Liz cares about you very much. If she doesn't want you for what you are, then she isn't worth having," James said with a friendly smile.

Remus sighed and grinned. "I wish all the world were like you, James."

"Things would be so much more adventurous and comical," James said lightly and went for the classroom door. Remus got up and followed him out.

They started walking back up to Gryffindor tower looking occasionally in alcoves and empty classrooms for Sirius and possibly Jade, but they found nothing. Remus smirked and James followed suit.

"Jade's nowhere to be found," Lily said to them when they came in through the portrait hole. "This isn't like her, you know?"

"No, but it's like him. Don't worry about her, Lily," James replied. 

Out in the corridor, past many portraits and coat of arms, and down several staircases, Sirius was leading Jade, blindfolded, to a room that only he knew about. 

"Were are we going?" Jade asked.

"You'll see," he said with a smile.

"Why all the secrecy?"

"I'm the only one that knows how to get to this place, and I want to keep it that way. Not to mention there is something for ambiance. However, you're ruining the romantic moment with your questions."

"Sorry," she giggled. Sirius took her other hand and helped her down the last flight of stairs then stopped in front of a rather ordinary looking door. He walked to it and whispered into the keyhole. At first the door did nothing, but then it magically creaked open.

"Alright," he said as he took her hands once more and led her into his secret room, "it's time."

He closed the door behind them, faced her towards the room and slowly pulled off the cloth from her eyes.

Jade's mouth dropped as her eyes consumed the art and perfection of this place.

It was a perfectly proportioned room, far from anything she had ever seen. The ceiling was taller than that of the Great Hall, she thought, but as she looked up she couldn't even make out the ceiling. Where there should have been rafters and large beams were clouds and royal blue skies.

"It's beautiful," she said. "How can you possibly be the only one who knows?"

"Well that's a bit of a story. I found it three years back when I was going to the library. That's where it was then. I found it a week later here, and then one time it was not far from the headmaster's room early in the morning. It goes under the guise of an ordinary door, but it is far from that." Sirius moved along one of the walls on which were shelves of deep red wood displaying masterpieces of art: paintings of oceans, great birds and dragons, all of which were far more breathtaking than the ones decorating the castle. "Aren't you something of an artist?" he asked her.

She blushed slightly and moved over next to him surveying a huge mural of the Alps.

"Artist is a bit strong, but I do sketch from time to time."

"I see you drawing all through History of Magic, and it's very good, Jade. You have a rare talent."

Jade looked at him and smirked. He moved closer to her and took her hands.

"So not even James knows about this place?" she asked.

"Not even James." He passed his hand gently across her face and moved in closer to her so that he could feel her soft lips touch his.

"Sirius," she asked, "what do you want to do, after we graduate that is?"

"I don't really know, probably something for the Ministry of Magic. What about you?"

Jade put her arms around his shoulders and leaned her head against his chest so that she could hear the beating of his heart. "I'm not really sure either. I was thinking the Department of Magical History and Intelligence. But we'll have to wait and see."

"Intelligence? You want to send in spies, learn secrets?" he asked with a great grin and taking her hands as if dancing with her.

"Yeah, sounds silly doesn't it? But I've always liked History. It's a fascinating subject. Most people don't share my opinion because Professor Binns is a horrible teacher, but you have to know history to know why people act the way they do. And that is the key to most secrets," she said with a grin.

"History could never be interesting to me," Sirius said lightly.

"No? So you don't study ancient tactics of great Quidditch games, read about wars of wizards and goblins, learn of the Dark Lord's rise? It's all history. And history, Sirius, has a nasty habit of repeating itself. That is why it is important, not only for intelligence and spying but for the very future. Most find it dull and the study of a bunch of dead politicians and generals, but it is far more than that. Not to mention it never changes, so that when I want a family of my own I can be with them and go back to my job when my children leave the house."

"Ah, now that's a good idea. And you said you haven't thought about it," he said slyly.

"Well perhaps I have...just a little. I wish I had the stomach to do something greater and save lives, like Lily wants to do, but I could never be a doctor."

"Why not?"

Jade crinkled her nose, "I can't stand the sight of blood."

Sirius laughed. "Me neither. I faint at the mere mention of it."

"I totally understand. I don't really mind my own blood for some reason, but seeing someone else's," she shivered, "gross."

"Exactly! Who cares if it's mine, but my God, if someone else is bleeding I have to leave the room or suffer the consequences."

Jade laughed as she looked longingly into his eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't see you before," he whispered.

"I tried to make myself very obvious to you," she said.

"I know that now."

"I was downright irritating, I thought."

"Well you were rather militant about it, but I did deserve it. Now, I think there has been plenty of discussion so that won't be the problem in our relationship."

"I see," she said kissing his lips, "so you would rather we spend time kissing in this enchanting room instead of talking to each other?"

Sirius looked into her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, that's about right."

She laughed then pulled him towards her. 

Later that evening, after the others had dinner and had returned once more to the Tower, Sirius and Jade made their appearance. They entered hand in hand looking questioningly upon the rest of their house. James was the first to stand and applaud them, followed by Lily and Liz who were in tears, then Remus who gave them a "whoop!" and Peter who tripped on the rug on his way over.

James thought it was more than appropriate for a party, so his slipped out of the common room undetected and made his way down to the kitchens.

"Mr. Potter it is!" cried an overly excited house elf who jumped into James's arms. She had a very high-pitched voice and a tiny, squashy nose with great brown eyes.

"Hello Lucky," he said, setting the house elf down on the ground. "How are you these days?"

"Lucky is good, sir. How is Mr. Potter?"

"He's doing fine," James said smiling. "My friend just got hooked up with someone, and I wanted to celebrate a bit. Do you think you could spare some- " but before he could finish his sentence, Lucky and five other elves where shoveling food at him. James took all that he could carry, which was a great deal, then headed back up to the tower.

"I told you this day would come!" Lily said as she hugged Jade.

"So where are you planning your honeymoon?" Liz asked.

"Oh come on. I just kissed him today, you guys don't actually think that I've thought about that, do you?"

Lily and Liz exchanged evil grins then looked back at Jade innocently.

"Sydney, Australia," Jade said quietly. Liz and Lily both laughed. 

James entered the scene unnoticed and spread the food out on a table; they all noticed that and, like moths to a flame, crowded the food.

"So Jade," Liz said, "while you were gone, Lily made me her maid of honor."

"Lily!" Jade screeched. "What about me?"

"I didn't make her my maid of honor. I said that the two of you would have to decide that amongst yourselves. I want no part in the decision process because I can't decide. I don't care how you do it,just make it fair, and I will be happy with the results."

"I think it should be me," Jade said calmly, "because the maid of honor is paired with the best man, and that's Sirius."

"So?" Liz said rudely. "You two probably won't even still be together. The longest he has gone with a relationship is about three months isn't it?"

"Elizabeth Banks!" Lily said. "Don't you dare say that. I think they'll still be together 'cause this is the first time he has dated someone that he knew before."

"I think you should make me maid of honor just based on her comment," Jade said. Sirius came over and sat next to her and kissed her; Jade smiled.

"What are you arguing about?"

"They want to be my maid of honor but I'm only allowed one, which is a really stupid rule. Most of the time it's either the sister, which is out of the question, or the best friend, but I have two. See the dilemma?" Lily said.

"Yeah, so how are you going to decide?"

"I'm going to make them decide in a civilized fashion."

"Mean, isn't she?" Jade said. But Sirius looked like he had an idea.

"A competition? Remus, Peter and I can hold a contest and score on a few issues to see who's the best for the job. Fair?" 

The three of them exchanged looks and smiled. 

"Sounds fair to me," Lily said. In the end the two agreed.

* * * * *

The week passed like all others but marked closer to graduation. Now that they were on the down hill side, the seventh years started to show stress. For the brightest students of the year, the N.E.W.T.s would be administered, and it was widely known that it was the most challenging of all tests. Even James and Sirius, who mocked those who studied around the clock, were seen opening schoolbooksevery now and then.

"How much do you think we have to know for this test?" Sirius asked.

"Too much if you ask me. I'm not studying transfiguration because I have that down to a science. Charms is Lily's area of expertise so I have her for that. The rest though..." he rolled his eyes and opened another book. 

"James," Sirius said after a long silence, "what are we going to do for a living?"

James closed his book and rested his chin on his hand. "Something we're good at, I suppose."

"But what's that? What can we do good that's useful?"

"I don't know. Something." He opened his book and resumed reading.

"What about Law Enforcement?" Sirius said.

James moved his head back and forth. "Maybe. That could be cool."

"Yeah," Sirius said thoughtfully. "I'm Sirius Black, Law Enforcement. I could do that."

James smirked. 

On Saturday the fourth Quidditch match of the season was scheduled: Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor. James was on edge because it was quite stormy outside, though the weather reporters said it would be sunny.

"Bunch of idiots!" James said looking out the window. "They don't know anything. I could probably guess better without any equipment. And they get paid!"

James and the rest of the team had a quick breakfast and headed down to the pitch. A roll of thunder sounded across the sky just as James said something offensive about weathermen. When he got into the 'briefing room' he sat his team down and paced the front.

"It's a bloody mess out there," he said calmly, "I won't deny that. We've seen bad weather before so we can do this. But if we lose this match..." he began waving his index finger at them, "there'll be hell to pay."

"If one of us gets electrocuted by a bolt of lightning," Sam Moore started, "will you let us off the hook?"

"What do you think?" James asked.

"No."

"Precisely. If you see the lightning, move the other way. Now, we are the best team in the school, and we have to win the match. You all know your roles. Let's go out there and kick ass."

The team left the coaching room with much enthusiasm and waited to be announced on to the field. The boards on either side of them were shaking with the angry wind.

"Move out of the way of lightning," Sirius said.

"Shut up Sirius, and focus on the game," James said.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the fourth Quidditch game of the season, Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor!" Al Davis screamed over the sounds of the weather. "And now flying out onto the field are the champions of the Quidditch cup, Gryffindor!"

"That's us," James said. "Good luck to you all." The wooden gates opened and they flew out onto the field. It was a wall of cold rain that drenched their robes in a matter of seconds. The wind was almost impossible to fly in. The other players looked like blue blurs. James flew down to greet the captain, David Butterfield, who also didn't look happy with the weather. They shook hands, mounted their brooms and the Quaffle was released.

"And the game begins!" James heard before a clap of thunder sounded. He went for the Quaffle and nearly knocked Annika Kincade, Sirius's ex-girlfriend, off her broom. He wanted to make a snide comment to her but in this weather he thought it better not to. He urged his Nimbus 140 to go as fast as possible, but the wind and rain were too much. Annika made another round for him and tried to hit the Quaffle out of his arms, but he did a barrel role, which earned him cheers, and put it through the Ravenclaw goal post.

"James Potter scores the first goal of the match, not a shocker, ten to zero Gryffindor!"

Kylie Markson, the Keeper, passed the Quaffle, which shot like a bullet with the wind, to Monroe Blake who headed it up to the Gryffindor side. James signaled for Chris Mueller to head her off while James flew up behind Monroe, knocked the Quaffle out of her arm and took it. The crowd cheered again. James did a loop around her and headed against the storm back to the Ravenclaw goal posts. Duke Freeman, a very large Beater for Ravenclaw, sent a bludger right at James's head, but James ducked as soon as the bludger came into view. He passed the Quaffle to Brian Johnson, who passed to Chris then back to James who sunk it into the goal.

"Gryffindor twenty to zero!" Al Davis yelled. James flew at Sirius and gave him a high five as Kylie Markson passed the Quaffle to Michael Burns. James followed him closely as if daring him to drop it. The rain was falling harder than ever now, and he hoped that would break concentration. Just then Annika came pelting out of nowhere and hit James in the side. James looked at her and saw that she was grinning. He rammed her back. Who cares if she was a girl? A bludger soared towards Annika,and she broke off. James had the suspicion that Sirius sent it at her, and he was grateful. James took Annika's absence as a blessing and used his time to fly in front of Burns and veer him away from the posts. 

"Burns of Ravenclaw in possession, but Potter misleads him. Burns goes for the shot...but misses thanks to Captain James Potter. Johnson of Gryffindor in possession. He passes to Potter who takes it up the field, and what a maneuver around Kincade!" James has done an inward loop just out of spite. He flieshard and fast scattering all Ravenclaw players in his way to get to the goal to make his third score of the game.

Much was the rest of the match. James dominated the field as he usually did. Brian Johnson and Chris Mueller knew that James was the strongest link in the chain and rarely, if ever, missed his mark. James made over a dozen goals in the pouring rain and gusty wind. By the time Amanda caught sight of the snitch, not an easy task in such weather, Gryffindor was 150 points up. She grabbed it before Butterfield did, and Gryffindor was proclaimed the victor thus maintaining their six year undefeated record. 

James, who was thinking he might catch pneumonia, splashed in the mud to be with his team. Wet, cold and wanting nothing more than a fire, they quickly congratulated each other and started for the locker rooms when something unexpected happened.

As usual the entire Gryffindor house went down to the field to greet their winners. They were accompanied, however, by two strangers in expensive robes of blue and white. The Gryffindors cheered loudly for another win, but the two strangers pressed through to get to the team itself.

"James Potter?" one of them said. He was tall, burly and had a black mustache.

"That's me," James said looking upon him with interest.

The man smiled formally, put out his hand for James and shook it enthusiastically.

"I'm Jeremy Talen. That was some flying you did there and in such conditions. I saw you play against Slytherin back in November as well, and let me tell you, I'm impressed." Now the entire team and house was trying to hear everything that he was saying. The wind still howled, and the rain still poured, but they still tried to listen.

"Thanks," James said.

"Perhaps you're wondering why I say that?" he said with a smile. 

James nodded.

"Well, I'm an official talent scout for the England Eagles, perhaps you've heard of them," he said.

James suddenly felt very warm. "Of course I have!" 

"My assistant and I concur, a true rarity, and I have shown photos of your flying to my superiors. We would like to sign you on as a starting Chaser for our team." Everyone's jaw dropped and splashed in the mud. James had to hear it again.

"W-What did you just say?" he asked.

"We want you to be a starting Chaser. That means you're not a reserve, you're really out there on the field to start the game. We want to sign you on."

Sirius couldn't contain his emotion; he flung his arms around James and started to jump up and down. Soon the rest of the team was there with him. James stared at Mr. Talen for minutes, not knowing what to say.

"Look," Mr. Talen said getting closer to James and putting a hand on his shoulder, "here are the conditions." He put a thin black booklet into James's hand and grinned again. "We sign on five year contracts. The money would make you more than comfortable, and with your talent you could be famous worldwide. Just think about it, James. My card is in the booklet if you have any questions. Give me your decision in two weeks." With a final clap on the shoulder, he turned and left. The team screamed with joy and led James to the common room as if he was king of the world.

"The England Eagles, James!" Sirius said when they were changing into dry clothes back in their dormitory. "They won the World Cup!" 

"I can't believe they want me," James said weak with happiness.

"Why not?" Peter said. "You're the best in the school."

"You are James. No one can fly like you," Remus chimed in.

"The England Eagles!" Sirius yelled. 

"You guys think I should do it?" James asked.

"Duh!" Remus said. "You'd be wasting your gifts if you didn't."

"The England Eagles!"

"Just think of how you would introduce yourself," Remus said. "Hello, I'm James Potter. That's right I'm the starting Chaser, not the benched reserve, but the starting Chaser for the World Cup champions."

James suddenly imagined himself flying out into a huge stadium where people cheered his name.

"Trelawny!" Peter said suddenly.

"What's she got to do with this?" James asked.

"Didn't she say you'd be famous?"

"You know, that's right! That has to be it!" James yelled. He ran out of the dorm drier and happier than he had left it before. All of Gryffindor house chanted and cheered when they saw him enter the common room. Someone shouted, "James of the Eagles!" and yelling filled the room. He worked his way toward the back corner until he reached Lily.

"Did you hear?" he said excitedly. "They want me!"

"I know," she said with a smile. "It's wonderful."

"Do you think I should do it, Lily?"

Lily looked into his eyes and couldn't remember a time when he looked so thrilled, anxious and intrigued. She smoothed his face with her hands and kissed him.

"Ab-absolutely," she said before biting her lip. James scooped her up and spun her around in the air.

"I love you," he said in her ear. "I love you, Lily." She held onto him as tight as she could. She could hear the screaming and shouting of the room. She could feel the warmth of the fire, the happiness in James, the excitement all around her. She could hear his heart beating against hers, and him saying 'I love you," over and over in her ear. She just wished that she couldn't feel the single tear roll down her cheek.

* * * * *

News, as always, spread like wildfire around the school. In no time flat all one thousand students were talking about James Potter's offer to join one of the best professional Quidditch team in the world. There was a mixture of emotions about the whole ordeal, and not all of them were joyful.

All of Slytherin house was in an exceptionally sour mood. Several small fights happened between Gryffindors and Slytherins in the halls and corridors. It was mostly Snape, however, who encouraged the tension and who was extremely irate about it. He could be heard talking loudly about Potter's "silly maneuvers that looked more like he was blown by the wind," but even some Slytherins admitted that James was fair at the sport.

The Ravenclaws decided that they lost because James did so well. Ravenclaws got along swimmingly with the Gryffindors, and most of them congratulated James on his amazing accomplishment. Annika Kincade remained very bitter and glared at him.

The Hufflepuffs were in second place for the cup, Gryffindor in first, so they were hopeful that maybe they could take it. They tried to look cheerful about James, but then they also weren't comfortable with him being so good.

Sirius was happier than anyone. He paraded James around as if he was savior of the world and would announce him whenever they entered a room. Even Peter, who was usually very silent, was out having a ball with his friend. He looked up facts in the library about the team and told James very useful statistics about some famous players. And even though the moon was filling again and Remus's eyes began to droop, he couldn't help but bask in the euphoria with James and Sirius.

Professor McGonnagal was happier than anyone could remember her being in many years. She was especially smug around Professor Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw, and even more so around Professor Wicks, the new head of Slytherin. She treated James completely differently now, with much more respect than she had ever given him.

Not everyone was stunned, amazed, delighted, angry or jealous. It was only Lily who remained subdued, which went unnoticed.

James tried to keep his feet on the ground and kept telling himself that he wasn't the greatest in the world. Then a small voice, which kept getting louder, told him repeatedly, "You're not the greatest...yet." He tried to stop smiling all the time, but it was hard to do. He had read the small black book several times now and rehearsed the facts to anyone who wanted to hear them.

"England has won the world Cup the past two times," he said to a group of fourth year girls who looked simply enamored with him. "Alexander Beresnov from the U.S.S.R., considered one of the greatest Chasers of the age, was beaten by Nigel Montgomery of England." And then came payment questions. "Well, I would start with about nine thousand galleons a year, then bonuses and such." At that mouths dropped. Sirius nodded with a smile as James told the various details and facts, Remus couldn't stop grinning, and Peter now referred to James as, "You know, my best friend James Potter,who was asked to play professionally." 

It was Liz who noticed that James was suddenly being followed and admired by many girls, mostly sixth and seventh years, but Lily had noticed that first. She never wanted him out of her sight, mostly so she could tell off everyone for asking about autographs.

Liz and Jade bombarded Sirius and Remus with questions about the maid of honor test, but they were too busy with James's publicity.

"You guys promised us!" Jade said.

"He doesn't need all of this, he's still in school," Liz argued. It took awhile for them to get Sirius and Remus to see eye to eye, but they did eventually.

"Alright!" Sirius said. "Tonight meet us in McGonnagal's empty classroom." Jade and Liz spent the rest of the evening thinking about themselves in a beautiful powder blue gown helping Lily with various things. Lily herself was stone-faced and quiet as she studied for her N.E.W.T.s, but they thought nothing of it. They put their books up at six and headed for McGonnagal's classroom.

The Professor was still there, but she was talking to James with a smile spread all over her face. Sirius and Remus were examining a roll of parchment, and Peter was writing on the chalkboard two names and a corresponding column, "Jade / Liz."

"There you are," Sirius said when he saw them. "This is how it's going to work. Remus has drawn up some questions to ask Jade and I have done the same to ask Liz. We will discuss your answers and award a score to be written on the board by Peter who is also the tie breaker."

They each nodded then shook hands.

"Good luck," James said before he and McGonnagal left.

"So let the game begin," Sirius said. "Liz, it turns out that the father of the bride is missing. What do you do?"

Liz gave him a funny look but supposed it was a reasonable question especially with Lily's father. She thought about it for a while then said, "Well first I would check and make sure that his hands weren't around James's throat, then I would call a search making all of the wedding procession look for him. He'd have to turn up somewhere."

Sirius and Remus nodded at one another and awarded her one point.

"Jade," Remus said, "In a strange turn of events, Petunia has shown up for the wedding uninvited and insists on seeing her sister about to be wed. You...?"

"Deck her," Jade said jokingly. Sirius and Remus laughed and nodded. "I would tell her to get lost, that's for sure. She'd only be there to ruin it for Lily, and that's unacceptable." Sirius and Remus awarded her two points.

"Two!" Liz screeched.

"Ha!" Jade said.

"Now, now girls," Sirius said, "let's not get aggressive about this. Liz, Lily is thinking that she wants to call the whole thing off and split. What do you tell her?"

"I would say," she said slowly trying to put the words together in her head, "that it's normal to have doubts and second thoughts right before. I'd tell her that James is lucky to have her and she's lucky to have found him, someone that loves her so much. Not marrying him would be a huge mistake."

Again, Sirius and Remus nodded to each other and awarded her two points.

"Three points in your face!" Liz said to Jade. Jade looked away at Remus and awaited her question.

"Okay, Jade. It's speech time. Sirius has said his mush of words and now it's your turn."

Jade could have died. She had to come up with an entire speech? Sirius handed her a plastic goblet for her to raise as if it would help her. She looked over at Liz and saw that she was grinning maliciously. Jade racked her brain for something to say.

"To," she started raising her glass, "to James and Lily. I consider myself lucky to have seen the magical moment of your meeting. Never have I met two people as perfect for each other as you. Not only is there great love between you, but art and beauty. I know that whatever is thrown at you, not only will you accept it with open arms, but you'll love each other even more through the challenge. I wish we could all be as happy as you two are and are going to be for the rest of your lives together. I wish you fortune, good will and an easy road together but I don't need to wish you love, because there is more love in the two of you than around the world. Congratulations."

Sirius and Remus stared at her; Peter was holding his hand up to the board as if to write something but he dropped his chalk.

"That was beautiful," Remus said. He gathered Peter and Sirius in a huddle and they discussed it. Jade gave a superior look to Liz and turned back to the three boys.

"We've decided that Jade wins," Sirius said. Jade ran into Sirius's arms and hugged him.

"NO!" Liz screamed. "Remus! How can she win?"

"She got the most points. We gave her five for her last answer and you had the easier questions."

Jade was currently kissing Sirius, which Liz found suddenly revolting. "She only won because they're dating," she said pointing at them.

"Liz, I'm dating you," he said.

"So?" she said. Remus shook his head at her. Jade stopped kissing Sirius and ran and hugged Liz. Not really knowing what else to do, Liz patter her on the back.

"Just think, you're mine and Lily is yours!" she said.

"What do you mean?" Liz asked.

"We rotate. I'm Lily's, your mine and Lily is yours. That way we all get a chance." Liz looked at her and smiled.

"Yeah I suppose so." They hugged again and ran out of the classroom.

"Women," Sirius mumbled to himself. Remus grinned and nodded. 

Liz and Jade found Lily still studying in a corner of the common room. Jade went up to her and smiled.

"It's me. I get to be your maid of honor," Jade said to her. Lily smiled and hugged her.

"That's wonderful," she whispered. Jade pulled back and looked into Lily's face.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Just studying," she answered. Jade looked at Liz and they sat down with her.

"What's wrong, Lily? You can't fool us."

"Nothing. I'm just studying. I have to get top marks to make Med school, you know."

"Have you drawn up the guest list yet?" Liz asked. 

Lily shook her head and stared down at her work.

"When are you going to do that?" Jade asked.

Again, she shook her head and began to write notes.

"Picked the font for the invitations?"

"No."

"You don't want him to play do you?" Jade said. Lily looked up and stared at her.

"Of course I do," she said. "You know how much he wants this. I want him to play," she said. "I really do." They weren't convinced.

"But you don't?" Jade said.

"I do! How many times need I say that? I want him to be happy, and if Quidditch does that then so be it. Look, I have a lot of work to do here," she gathered up all her books, put them in her bag and left through the portrait hole. She decided she wanted to go to the library so she made her way up. As she ascended the stairs she met James going down. He grinned and put his hands around her small waist.

"Where are you headed?" he asked.

"Library. Studying for the N.E.W.T.s is all," she said.

"I'll get my stuff and join you in a second."

"Oh alright," she said. He kissed her and jogged down the steps. As she continued to the library, she noticed a gaggle of girls around her age glaring at her and going after James. She tried to ignore them and told herself that James loved her, not them.

The library was full of studying seventh years but she picked a table alone without even looking for a familiar face. She had just pulled out her potions book when Sirius sat across from her.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey."

"I am not looking forward to taking those," he said looking at her books and practice exams.

"Me neither." She started writing down ingredients, but he stopped her.

"Are you doing okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Really."

"You don't seem like it. You're very quiet all of a sudden. Since the match, actually."

"I'm fine," she persisted. "Please just leave me alone." Sirius looked at her for a while and then took her hand. She looked up at him curiously.

"I know it's bothering you, isn't it?"

"Hmmm?"

"James playing professionally. You don't want him to, do you?"

"I want James to be happy, Sirius. So what if he's gone all day long and traveling all over the world. He can Apparate home. I'll see him in the evenings and in the off-season. And James is very good so he probably won't get hurt. I trust him, so I know he'll be faithful when all those scantily clad women throw themselves at him. I mean it's not like he'll play for the rest of his life." She could feel her eyes getting moist, so she tried to concentrate on her potions so Sirius wouldn't see.

"Lily, if you don't want him to play then tell him."

"But I do want him to play. Don't you see how happy he is? I want him to be that happy because that's what he would want for me. He won't talk about Quidditch all the time, will he?" she asked as she wiped her eyes. 

"Probably not," Sirius said unconvincingly.

"Then I have nothing to worry about. This is what he wants to do. He's loved Quidditch for so many years, long before we got together. I knew he loved to play when we were twelve. He has a glint of joy in his eye when he's flying, and I don't want to take that away from him."

"Lily, he wants for your happiness too."

"I know that. I can't be the person who holds him down and keeps him from world fame. What if he looks back ten years from now and wonders what he could have been or done. I don't want him to look at me and think 'She's the one who stopped me from being great.' I won't have that. I love him so much, Sirius."

He looked at her and smiled.

James came in a few minutes later and apologized for being late. He said a gaggle of girls wouldn't let him pass. Lily rolled her eyes but smiled at him. Sirius got up and left the two alone. They remained unusually silent as they studied, which James found disturbing.

"Lily," he said. She looked up.

"What do you think?"

"About what?"

"About the offer."

She hesitated then spoke. "I think you should do it," she said looking back down at her parchment.

"Do you?"

"Yes." She started to write again assuming the conversation was over. James took her books and parchment from her and looked deep into her eyes.

"Do you really want me to play?" he asked.

"I want you to be happy. I know that you love it so much and you're very talented, James."

"I know that, but you're not answering my question. Do you want me to play?"

"Yes," she said.

"Then why do I get the feeling that you're upset about it?"

"I don't know."

"You come first in my life, Lily. I remember what you said back in December, but you've never really told me what you wanted."

She tried to smile at him, but she feared that it turned into a sad face.

"I want us to be together. That's all." James took her hands from across the table and started to explain.

"I've read the provisions and I would be gone most of the day, most of the week. I could Apparate home, of course, but sometimes we would be countries apart. There are at least one hundred professional teams in 6 divisions. We would essentially play every other weekend for three years then move into the playoffs for one year. There is an off-season for about a month and a half after the World cup. Most of the time it's a lot longer, but that's the bare minimum in the worst case scenario."

Lily looked down at their hands and felt tears coming.

"Medical school is very lengthy and time consuming so I'd spend most of my day at study anyways,and it's just as long as a season of Quidditch," she said with a small smile.

James leaned back in his chair and stared at her. "What kind of a relationship do we have if you can't tell me what you want, Lily? I want to know what you want; it's important to me. Quidditch is just a sport. Signing that contract would be just a job to me. If you would rather I did something else then I would be only too happy to."

"You just look so happy with the idea that you could play- "

"Well of course I'm happy with that. A professional told me I was great and could be greater. That'll make anyone delighted. I'm good at Quidditch; it's one of my strengths, but it's not the only one I have. You want to be a doctor; healing people would make you happy. I want you to be a doctor becausenot only because you can do a great job at it, but you'd be happy doing it. Being a doctor is perfect for you, but it's also good for me. You won't have to go to many places, I can see you whenever I want, you'd be off most of the summer and we could be together," he squeezed her hand tightly. "Not to mention it wouldn't be so bad having a medical expert in the house," he said lightly.

She smiled.

"Look, I want to play Quidditch. I won't deny that at all. But I want other things too. If I went ahead and signed on with England, I would have to start this August."

"August?" she said.

"Right." Lily closed her eyes and tried to turn away, but he still had her by the hands. "You're a terrible liar, Lily. I can see right through you. You don't want me to play but you just won't tell me."

"I want you to be happy!" she said loudly. 

"Being married to you will give me that. What is it that you want? Tell me, Lily, you have to tell me."

"I just want," she started but broke off.

"Go on, say it. We have to make compromises with each other to make this work. Tell me what you want!"

"I know what a marriage is, James."

"So tell me what you want me to do. Come on, Lily!"

She looked around the room but didn't speak a word.

"I don't deserve someone like you," he said. He lifted her hands and put them to his lips, closing his eyes as he kissed them. "You just won't say it, will you? It's not like you'd be holding me back or denying me something. All I've ever wanted is you, and now I have that. I know you don't want me to play I can see it in your teary eyes. I know that you want me to be happy but how am I supposed to do that when I know you're not?"

She didn't say anything.

"Say it! Tell me you don't want me to play, and we can get on with our lives."

"Fine. I don't want you to play Quidditch. I want you to be with me. I want to wake up and see you next to me, not leaving for Sweden to play a game. I want to cook for you and yell at you for not doing the laundry," she started to cry as she looked at his smiling face. "I want to come home to you every once in a while after I've been shopping with my friends. I want you to be there to tell me I'm beautiful when I'm barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen even though I look like a huge pear. I want to change poopy diapers with you, laugh and talk with you, pay the bills with you, have children with you," she couldn't help all the tears pouring down her face. James got up and held her tightly in his arms. "I don't want you to play Quidditch, I want you to be with me," she said. 

He swayed her back and forth, and smiling he whispered into her ear, "That's what I want too."  
  



	21. The Duel

***The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction written by CK Talons out of pure enjoyment of writing. This story isn't to be taken as true to the events before Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone. It is merely an idea that popped into my head one day and found it's way to a keyboard. Characters and locations are copyrighted to J.K. Rolwing; no copyright infringement is intended. This story isn't to be duplicated or sold.***  
  


Author's note: This note used to be huge and full of elaborate explanations about the previous chapter. I have since deleted that and will say this; people are not perfect, especially teenagers in an obsessive love. Of course it's not sensible to you, the reader, but it is to the characters. Please keep that in mind when you think of James and Lily and their sometimes weird and silly decisions. Ah... young people in love.

  
  
  


Part Eight: The Duel

"Love is the greatest magic of all."

A week later James walked with a determined heart to an empty classroom on the fourth floor to meet Jeremy Talen. His assistant opened the door for him, and James walked to the desk where Jeremy was seated.

"Just the man I want to see," he said, standing up to shake his hand. James smiled and sat down. Jeremy pulled out a huge stack of parchment and a quill. "Now, you'd be signing on with us for five years and nine thousand galleons each year plus a bonus for every game won. You'd be assigned the best broom in the world, of course, the best lodging in the countries we play in, and I can guarantee that you would be famous worldwide in a matter of weeks." He gave the quill to his assistant who then put it in James's hand. "Just sign on the dotted line."

It took great restraint to keep the quill in the air; his hand wanted to sign, but his head told it not to.

"Is there a problem, James?" Jeremy asked.

He put the quill down. "I'm not going to play with you," he said, though the muscles in his throat were not functioning to the best of their abilities.

James was half expecting him to look upset or angry or even slightly miffed, but instead he smiled. "Oh, a haggler are you? Who else has been to talk to you, the Chudley Cannons, Wales's team? Scotland? All right James, I can see you're going to be hard to get; very wise of you my boy. How about ten thousand Galleons each year and an extra hundred for each game we win."

"No, it's not about that," James said, but Jeremy kept on going.

"Okay, eleven thousand each year, one hundred for each winning game, and twenty for every score you make personally. We really want you James. Just imagine being announced on a loud speaker to over ten thousand wizards chanting your name. You fly into the stadium, your blue and white robes rippling in the air as you fly on the best broom ever made. Your name is on your back, people are buying figurines of you, waving posters of you, you're a celebrity James. You could live in the best house wizarding gold could buy for you and that pretty girl of yours."

The assistant put the quill back in James's hand. 

"All you have to do is sign on the dotted line."

"Uh," James mumbled. He should have more time to think about this, really. "What about," he knew he should just say no and walk out of the room but maybe... "What kind of hours could you get me?"

"Well you'd be practicing most of the day all five days of the work week. Saturdays are for games, and Sunday is spent de-briefing and gearing up for the next game. When we don't play we watch the team we're up against next."

"So all the time. I'd be working all the time."

"If you want to call it work, James. You know what they say, 'if you find something you love then you'll never work.' We're one of the best teams in the world, and practices have gotten us there. You clearly love it, and you'd be making more money than at a boring desk job at the Ministry of Magic. You'd be wasting your talent there."

"I wish I could, sir, but- "

"No buts, James. Just sign the contract."

"I can't, Mr. Talen, I promised my- "

"Never let a woman dictate your life, son. She's just holding you back, wants to control you. I see this all the time in my line of work. There are plenty of women out there who would be happy with you playing Quidditch for us. Beautiful girls who would be dedicated to you and do whatever you wanted, not the other way around."

"And what did those guys do, who gave up their loved ones I mean. Were they happy?"

Talen kept a straight steady smile, "They're famous; we won the Cup last year."

"Can I talk to them?"

"Look kid," he said without the friendly air, "if you know what's best for you, then you'll sign this contract. You're good at this sport. Just sign the form."

"So I'd belong to you, then, instead of my wife? Hmmm...You would make all my decisions, send me all over the world, and make money off of me, wouldn't you? I never thought about that before," he said reflectively.

"Think of all the gold you could fill in your vault. You'd be playing Quidditch James. I saw the way you played. You were masterful out there, a genius on the field. You'd be James Potter, England Eagles Chaser. People would turn their heads when you enter the room."

"And what happens at the end of five years? What happens if I get injured? What happens when I don't want to play Quidditch anymore? What then? What can you guarantee me then? How am I supposed to get an important job after I throw a Quaffle around for five years or less?"

"There are plenty of people who are happy with their job after they play."

"Yeah, who?"

He didn't say anything. He looked quite uncomfortable with James's questions. What James couldn't figure is why he hadn't thought of all this before? There was so much information that wasn't in the black book Talen had given him. He was almost sucked into the appeal to fame, and thankfully he got some sense to ask questions.

He stood up, threw the quill down on the desk, and frowned at Talen. "I don't want your stupid team, your money, or your fame. Not everything is about money. I've got a great thing going right now, and I don't want to mess it up with you and your people. Good luck finding someone without anything to lose." He stepped out of room and grinned; the only thing better than signing on with a World Cup winning Quidditch team who was begging for you, was telling them you didn't want them.

Though James was happy with his decision, Lily was smiling again, and all of Slytherin house was glad they wouldn't ever see James again after graduation, Sirius looked ready to cry. He had been the happiest of anyone with the offer for James to go pro. 

"It's not the end of the world," James said as he patted Sirius on the back. "We can go to the World Cup in two years. We can buy tickets now so we're guaranteed horrible seats."

"I wanted the Eagles real bad, James. I could have been your agent and publicity man," he whined.

"I know, Sirius. Quidditch is just a game. I really kind of want to do something more meaningful with my life other than throw a Quaffle. Fight against Voldemort, for example. Besides, Lily comes first, not my job or Quidditch; I owe her that. You want me to be happy and you want her to be happy, don't you?"

Sirius nodded but covered his eyes.

"We'll get tickets for August in 1980 for sure."

"You promise? Just us?"

"Yep. We'll be there."

"Rain or shine?" Sirius said.

"Rain or shine. Just don't look so pathetic."

"Oh alright. I only almost had my best friend on one of the best teams in the world. Why would that make me melancholy."  
  


As February came to an end, so did the constant storms that had pounded the castle. March came in smoothly with some sprinkles of rain occasionally, but it wasn't anything to fret about. The sun kissed the grounds with a tinge of warmth; the puddles and dew made the grass look more like a glistening cake rather than hills.

But most students didn't notice nature's beauty. Exams were drawing ever nearer, and soon the seventh years would say so long to the castle. Sirius tried to forget about the England Eagles, who had just beaten Bulgaria and East Germany in the past three weeks, and focused on his end of year exams.

Professor McGonagall was possibly giving the hardest exam. She told them they would have to perform human transformations on a partner. James and Sirius decided if they couldn't do it with wands, then they would transform into their Animagus forms right on target. Fortunately or unfortunately, however you wish to look at it, they were able to transform each other into different things. 

Professor Wicks, who taught potions, told the seventh years he was going to poison one person from each group, and the rest of them would have to, based on the symptoms, guess the potion used and then make the antidote. Luckily, when drawing numbers for groups of four, James and Lily were in the same group with Douglas Lacy, Snape's best friend, and Summer Dale, a fellow Gryffindor. Sirius, however, wasn't so lucky. Not only was he in a group with three other Slytherins, including Snape, but he was the one to be poisoned.

"Sirius, they have to cure you to get good marks, so don't worry about it," Jade said soothingly, who incidentally was not to be poisoned and was with three other Gryffindors.

Astronomy was going to be a breeze; just find the stars and name them correctly. Seeing as how this was the only test to which they had the answers, they didn't worry about it.

Charms was going to be a surprise, but everyone suddenly seemed to kiss up to Lily, even the girls who followed James around after the Quidditch match. She found it flattering but told everyone that she wasn't going to let anyone cheat. "No, James, not even you."

The rest of the exams were up in the air and probably really hard. No one had any idea as to what Professor Gellar had up her sleeve; she kept things very secretive. Professor Trelawny was undoubtedly planning something irrelevant to the prediction of the future but emphasized crystal gazing, even though they had done that many times in the past.

But the exams were temporarily cast from their minds one morning at breakfast. Things were going smoothly as usual, but there was an oddness in the air that even Peter sensed.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Not sure," Lily said.

James got up and went to see what the commotion was all about. Out in the entrance hall, a new message had been posted on the corkboard. Sirius came up behind him and read along.

~DUELING TOURNAMENT~

GOOD WITH A WAND? FAST ON YOUR REFLEXES? MARCH 15TH 1978 IS THE DATE FOR THE SIX-YEAR MARK FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DUELING MASTERS TO APPEAR AT HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY. THE TOURNAMENT WILL COMMENCE AT TWELVE AND WILL END WHEN THERE IS A PROCLAIMED WINNER. THE MATCH WILL BEGIN WITH TWO SECOND YEAR CHALLENGERS. THE WINNER WILL CHALLENGE ANOTHER TILL SEVENTH YEAR IS REACHED. WINNER OF THE MATCH WILL RECEIVE 100 GOLD GALLEONS. THERE ARE NO POINTS FOR SECOND BEST.  
  


Sirius gave James a pat on the back. "You should do it."

"You think so?"

"Definitely. You could win it by a long shot." Lily and the rest of the gang came to see for themselves what all the fuss was about.

"A dueling tournament?" Lily said. "That should be interesting."

"James is going to win," Sirius said with a smile. 

"Oh is he?" she said with a glint in her eye.

"Maybe I will. Why aren't you going to enter? I've never seen you duel before, at least not for fun. You know I'd beat you, right?" James said.

Lily grinned and walked away.

* * * * *

On March 15th the entire student body gathered in the Great Hall, which had been transformed into a dueling ring. The four house tables were nowhere to be seen; only a long platform stood in the center of the Hall. The Dueling Masters were dressed in red and black robes so they could easily be identified. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter merged through the crowd for a spot near the middle of the raised stage. Lily, Jade, and Liz came and stood next to them. It was a weekday, and instead of it being a total vacation, the teachers were all in a staff meeting.

One of the masters jumped onto the stage. He was short and thick around the middle. He looked to be of Asian descent and had shiny black hair and a beard. He waited for the chatter to cease.

"Welcome to the first dueling tournament at Hogwarts. We are a group of wizards who excel in dueling, and every six years we go to a school, such as this, and hold a tournament. This time it is Hogwarts.

"I am John Xiapong, the dueling referee, if you will. The tournament will start with two second years, as the announcement stated. The winner will then face a challenger in his or her year, 'til no one will want to challenge them. At that point a third year will be called and so on and so forth. Only the seventh years will receive one hundred galleons. The younger years will receive fifty. And the winner of each match will receive fifty points for his or her house.

"I think it goes without saying that the unforgivable curses are not to be used, nor is human transfiguration, or any form of the dark arts. If there are no questions, then I will start the match." John Xiapong looked for hands to be in the air, and when he saw none, he asked for a second year volunteer.

No one stepped forward.

"Don't be shy," John said.

James walked over to Amanda Davies, the Gryffindor Seeker.

"Why don't you try it?" he said.

"No way, James. I don't even know how do duel."

"You go up there, bow to your opponent, and throw curses and hexes at them. It's a blast you'll love it. Just go a head and try it."

She hesitated for a short while, but then asked for James to help her up to the stage. The Gryffindors applauded for her.

Then Ravenclaw sent a young boy up to duel. Amanda, being very nervous, went back over to James and asked for spells.

"Disarm him first, then you'll win," he told her.

"How do I do that?"

"Expellarimus," he whispered.

"Young lady," Xiapong said, "we're waiting for you." Amanda thanked James and stood on her mark.

"Now bow," he said. Each did so. "On the count of three, you may begin. Good luck to you both. One...two...THREE!"

The Ravenclaw started first and yelled, "Patrificus Totalus!" Amanda was hit. Her arms snapped to her side before she fell flat on her back. All but Gryffindors applauded. James took out his wand and mumbled the counter-curse at Amanda. She got up dizzily to her feet and looked like she was going to quit when she faced the Ravenclaw and yelled, "Expellarimus!" The boy's wand flew into the air and Amanda caught it. The Ravenclaw, having no wand, conceded the win.

"Winner!" Xiapong yelled.

"Wow, that was fast," Lily said. In no time Amanda had her second challenger, a Slytherin. Amanda looked terrified. She ran over to James once more.

"Don't worry about him," he said.

"What do I use?" she asked.

"Whatever comes to your mind," he said. "If you lose you lose; it's not the end of the world. You'll be fine."

She left and went to challenge the Slytherin, who looked like a hog.

They bowed to each other, and on the count of three, they sent their spells. Amanda used a cheering charm, but the Slytherin used a sickening spell and caused Amanda to start vomiting uncontrollably. She quickly succumbed and gave the win to Slytherin.

After several second years dueled one another, a Hufflepuff girl won. Of the third years a Ravenclaw boy won, after defeating five others in a row. Gryffindor took fourth year, Ravenclaw took fifth, and Slytherin got their first win in year six.

"And now the moment we've all been waiting for," John said. "Who will take one hundred galleons and fifty points for their house?" Seventh years looked around at each other waiting for someone to go first. No one urged James to go forward; he was going to wait 'til the end. It was David Butterfield of Ravenclaw who went first, and his challenger was Douglas Lacy from Slytherin.

"Any bets, boys?" Sirius said.

"No. I haven't seen either of them duel before, but I hope Butterfield wins," James said.

The two battled for five minutes without a designated winner, but Lacy did a bit of cheating and pulled the win. Then a Hufflepuff girl, who everyone thought was a bit of a scatter brain, beat Lacy. Summer Dale was her challenger but lost, as well as two others who wanted to claim the championship. Finally, Severus Snape stood up to her. The Slytherins were beside themselves with cheers for him.

Perhaps she was tired, or perhaps she feared Snape, but whatever it was, she lost. Snape looked all too pleased with himself and stood the champion for the time being. He raised his hands in the air with a sneer as if conquering the world.

"Will anyone challenge him?" John asked.

"Go, James," Sirius said.

"I want to wait a bit longer to let him live in the moment before I pull it from under him."

"No one will challenge him? Alright I hereby make you- "

"Not so fast," James said as he stepped onto the stage. Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws yelled themselves hoarse for James. He didn't look at them or smile; he just stared at Snape with utter loathing.

"Potter," Snape said with a cruel smile.

"Snape," James said politely. "Shall we?" Snape simply nodded. Without being told by Xiapong, the bowed to each other, turned and walked several paces.

"James," Lily said moving to the platform, "let me give you a kiss, for good luck, not that you'll need it fighting him." James smiled and bent down to kiss her.

"Thanks," he said. He stepped back, assumed a combative position and waited for the cue.

"On the count of three, gentlemen. One...two...THREE!"

James lunged forward faster than Snape and bellowed "Dynorous!" Snape flew into the air before landing flat on his back and hitting the ground with a loud thud. The room exploded with cheers. Snape slowly got to his feet, exhaled smoke then fired back.

"Importroni!" James hit the stage before the curse could give him the full blast, but it grazed his head. At once all the images that he saw were blurry and slow. James shook his head and started to see clearly again. He jumped up and flew forward.

"Rictusepmra!" He yelled. Once again Snape landed on his bottom but fell over backwards with laughter. It was the first time James had seen Snape look so innocently happy, and it was this that took his attention away from Snape. 

Though he could hardly breath due to the fit of giggles he was having, he was able to make out "Banshin," as he pointed his wand at James. At first he thought Snape had made a mistake, for he felt nothing, but when he opened his mouth to curse Snape again, a horrible screeching erupted from his vocal cords. Not knowing the counter-curse, he tried to hex Snape back with his Banshee like screaming. This only made the entire student body snicker.

James was utterly ashamed of the unmasculine way he sounded, and desperately wanted to end the duel. In honor of his embarrassment he thought it only fair for Snape to feel worse. Being careful not to say the hex too loudly so Snape could use it back, James whispered, which sounded much like fingernails on a chalkboard, a curse he and Sirius had found back in their fourth year.

With a loud snap, the cloak, tie, shirt, vest and pants on Snape's body disappeared leaving only his underwear and his black socks. 

The Hall echoed with such extreme laughter no one had ever heard. Snape looked down at his near naked self and looked ready to cry. James couldn't feel too sorry for Snape after all he had done to him. Instead he noticed that Snape had dropped his wand.

"Accio wand!" James yelled in his normal voice, as the curse seemed to have worn off. Snape's wand flew into the air and soared into his hands.

John Xiapong asked if Snape wanted to concede the win, but he shook his head and covered himself with his arms and hands.

"Give up and I give you your clothes, Snape. Do us all a favor and admit your loss," James said as he twirled both their wands in his hands.

"NO!" Snape yelled. But he just stood there adding more humiliation to himself. 

"I have your wand you idiot. Give up! I've beat you; admit it!"

The crowd, with exception of the Slytherins of course, began to chant "Pott-er, Pott-er!" but it wasn't until Douglas Lacy told Snape to give in that he finally did so. James gave him his clothes back then threw his hands up in victory and let the cheering of his name pour into his ears. He could see Sirius beside himself with happiness and pride for him and was applauding harder than anyone else.

"Who will challenge Mr. Potter?" John shouted into the crowd. No one stepped forward. "Anyone?" 

James walked over to his group of friends and crouched down to speak to them.

"What about one of you?" he asked. "Sirius?"

"No way. You've always beaten me at dueling," he said.

"Remus?"

"No thanks," he answered. James nodded then looked at Lily.

"What about you?" he asked her with a smirk.

"What about me?" she said innocently.

"You want to duel?"

"No," she said shortly.

"Oh come on Lily. You know you want to; all the other kids are doing it." He cocked his head to the side in a friendly manner and smiled cheekily.

"I don't need one hundred galleons to beat you, James," she said. Sirius, Remus and Peter all said "Oooohhh!" and looked at her with a newfound respect.

"Is that right?" he said.

"Hmmmm..." she said nodding her head.

"I don't think you could beat me, Lily. Oh sure, you're great with magic and charms and things, but when it comes to the important stuff you just can't hack it."

"I wouldn't be so sure. I just think that one hundred galleons is just too much for such an easy task."

Again, Sirius, Remus, and Peter: "Oooohhh"

"That sounds like a challenge, Miss Evans," James said.

"Well it's just truth." James had known Lily far too long to know that she was very competitive and wanted to duel him; he just had to reel her in.

"Hey, can you tell me the difference between a lily and a pansy?"

Lily rolled her eyes and shook her head. "What James?"

"Oh, I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me," he said. He was so impressed by his cleverness that he danced in place before crouching down again.

"That's so funny," she said with a straight face.

"Yeah it is. Some times I'm so clever I amaze myself."

"I believe that," she said lightly. By this time all the Gryffindors were straining to hear the couple's banter, and even John Xiapong was listening as he waited for the next challenger. 

"You know what I think, Lily? I think the real reason you don't want to duel me is because you know men are better at magic than women."

Silence fell. Girls of all years looked to Lily. Lily was staring at her fiancée's smiling face.

"James Potter," she said calmly, "kiss you butt goodbye." James extended his hand to her and pulled her up onto the platform. The crowd went wild.

"I got you, I got you," James sang over the crowd.

"Yeah, yeah. Good luck, James," she said with a kind smile. 

"And to you," he replied smiling.

The crowd was still chanting "Pott-er." At this time, Hagrid, who had been watching the duel from the doorway of the Great Hall, ran as fast as he could to the teacher's meeting and burst in.

"Potter's fighting Lily!" he yelled.

McGonagall looked slowly to Dumbledore who looked to the professors at the table.

"Perhaps this can all wait," he said calmly. The teachers pushed themselves away from the table and scrambled to the Great Hall.

James bowed to Lily's slight nod with a smirk. They each turned and walked seven paces then waited to go.

Remus bent closer to Sirius so he would be heard. "Who do we cheer for?"

"Whoever's winning!" Sirius yelled back.

"You both know the rules," John said. "On three. One...two...THREE!"

Out of courtesy, James let Lily go first. He had never seen her duel before but assumed that she was just average. Oh how wrong he was.

Lily lunged forward but didn't shout a spell, which shocked him. A pink wave shot out from her wand and socked him in the stomach like a bullet. James fell over and started to shiver. He jumped up and got ready to hex her back but he was hit again.

"Whoa!" Remus said. "Unbelievable!" 

James got up fast, whipped his wand in the correct position and fired away.

"Bloatsprica!" he yelled. It hit Lily with full force. Soon she was filling in. Her waist began to expand, her face rounded and her arms and legs swelled. Somehow she knew the counter curse and fixed herself. 

She shot another hex at James without moving her lips, which was more violent this time. He was catapulted at least ten feet into the air before he fell to the ground. He got up quickly and found that he was sweating. He fired away with a very handy charm.

A red light erupted from the end of his wand. Lily moved out of its way, but it wasn't aiming for her. Instead it hit her wand, which flew into the crowd. She looked nervously at James.

"Alright," Sirius said to everyone, "ten galleons says James wins."

Lily looked quickly into the crowd for her wand but saw nothing.

"Give up?" James said.

"Never!" Lily shouted. She lifted her hands above her head and pulled them down quickly. To everyone's amazement Lily was holding a glowing celestial ball, which looked as though it were made of shining gold mist. She made a quick forward motion looking as though she threw the glowing object at James.

It hit him like a ton of bricks and the next thing he knew he was staring at the ceiling with a hundred little stars zooming across his eyes.

"I'll take that bet," Remus said with a smirk. In the time that James lay on the stage, Lily ran to the corner where she believed her wand to be.

"If you leave the stage you lose," John told her. Lily yelled to the group instead.

"Will you please look for my wand?" she asked. They all scrambled to find it, but James started to get up.

"Lily look out!" someone yelled.

She turned on her heal and saw that James was gearing up to curse her again.

"Give me things to throw at him!" she yelled to the crowd.

"You can't throw objects! You have to use magic!" John told her.

"I know that!" Lily said. She turned back to the crowd. "Just hold the objects in the palms of your hands; I'll take care of the rest."

James fired back at her with a charm that made her cross-eyed. She shook it off quickly, stared into a Slytherin's hand, and locked on. He was holding a large book; perfect. She moved it with her telekinetic abilities and sent it soaring at James.

"How does she do that?" James asked himself as he caught the book and laid it down. 

"Not fast enough, Lily," she mumbled. She moved her hand to another student and took an inkwell and threw her empty hand towards James. This time the inkwell shot like an arrow through the air and splattered on the collar of his white shirt. The crowd applauded.

Lily got faster each time. With eyes darting around the room for loose items and objects being volunteered, she was able to cast two and three things at James simultaneously. They flew at him faster each time with greater precision. James couldn't dodge all of them so he went back to his best work.

James pointed his wand as each shot at him and transfigured them into various harmless things like pillows. He transformed a divination book into a bouquet of flowers then threw them back to Lily with a charming grin. She smiled back then tossed them behind her. Jade leapt up into the air and caught them.

"Lily, your wand!" someone said. Lily looked and magically drew it to her.

"Not that I need it," she mouthed to James, who smiled.

Lily was the first to fire back. 

"Degrowisium!" she yelled. A white light shot out and hit James in the head. For a while no one could see what was happening but when they did...

"Potter's bald!" 

And that he was. James didn't have a single hair on his shiny head. He felt it with his hand and wanted to explode on the spot.

"She's crossed the line," he muttered. "Gyrus!" he yelled. 

Lily didn't know what hit her just that her wand fell to the ground. Then she started to spin, first very slowly then rapidly. She was almost ready to throw up when the spinning suddenly stopped. She had to sit down before she fell down. The room kept spinning though she swore she wasn't. She laid her head on the stage and decided to wait for her stomach to ketch up with her before she did anymore magic.

But then she saw two shoes coming toward her. She slowly looked skyward and saw a no longer bald James coming up to her. The crowd was silent. James lifted her up.

"Can you stand?" he asked her.

"Uh huh," she said weakly.

He backed away, and she saw that he was holding her wand.

"Give up?" he asked.

"No."

"But I have your wand," he said.

"So? There is some magic that doesn't need a wand. Care to see?"

"Lily just give up."

"No way. You're just going to have to fight me," she said as she pushed him backwards.

"I'm not going to fight you without your wand, Lily, but I'm not going to give it back to you."

"Then I guess we'll be up here for a while." She moved her hands to the front as if to shove him again, but she didn't move them. James, however, distinctly felt a strong push.

"How are you doing that?" he asked her, now walking backwards as she kept advancing on him.

"Magic," she pushed him again, harder this time. 

"Lily, that's like dark magic," he whispered.

"Is not. I'm using a much more powerful one, trust me." She pushed him again. This time he fell to the ground.

Money was being passed around below the stage.

"Fight me, James. Go on," she said pushing him back farther without touching him.

The crowd started yelling at James to do something, but he didn't know what. Lily had a special glint in her eye, as if planning something drastic, and that scared him.

"Go on, James. You'd better hit me before I hit you," she said again. James backed up some more.

Lily summoned a book from the floor and cast it at James again. He blasted it with his wand then shot at Lily.

A lavender beam burst forth from his wand tip and bolted towards Lily. In a flash of a second, Lily crossed her arms over her chest, shut her eyes, and waited for the spell to hit her. But it never seemed to. What happened instead was like nothing anyone had ever seen, even Dumbledore. A magnificent brightness shone around Lily and it seemed to grow...and grow...and grow. James, as well as the rest of the room, stared in apt silence. Then Lily opened her eyes.

The white light blasted towards James and threw him back ten feet. He slid seven more, but no one noticed. As the bright light pelted through the air, a loud boom echoed, the windows shattered, the walls cracked, and the ground shook. People screamed and bent down to avoid the chaos. Then silence fell.

It seemed like an eternity before anyone spoke. Lily was the only one in the room standing. Her face was blank but sweaty. She started walking down the stage to where James lay in a heap. Her shoes made a clunking sound as she walked. She glanced at the heavily cracked walls and shattered windows as she bent down to pick up the two wands which lay at James's frozen feet. She looked over him.

"Hello, sweetie," she said, as if it was morning and nothing strange was happening. "The freezing charm, huh? Let me fix that for you." She thawed him out quickly, but he said nothing nor did anyone else. With both wands grasped in her hands, she waved them quickly towards both damaged walls. Instantly the cracks sealed, and the windows repaired. 

Then Remus timidly stepped onto the stage, walked over to Lily, took her hand and thrust it into the air. 

"WINNER!" he yelled, and the crowd erupted with astonishment and wonder. Lily smiled graciously as friends and classmates got onto the stage to congratulate her.

Sirius ran to James and helped him up.

He was shaking and staring at the group surrounding Lily. He was cold to the touch, from the freezing charm, and his heart was racing. He pointed at Lily and tried to speak, but nonsense fell from his purple lips.

Sirius only had one thing to say, and it didn't make James feel any better. 

"Gosh," he said, shaking his head, "your girlfriend beat you big time, man."

* * * * *

"How did she do that?" James asked for the fifth time as he took a case of Butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks. Sirius decided that a party was in order for Gryffindor's one hundred point gain and holding the winner of the duel.

"It was the strangest thing to watch," Sirius said for the sixth time. "The moment she chucked that...that...glowing thingy at you, the walls started to cave. A piece of glass fell on my head from the window."

"Even Dumbledore looked impressed by it," Remus said.

"A bit creepy if you ask me," Peter added.

"I know she's good at magic, but never that good," James said. They picked up the crate of Butterbeer and headed back down the cellar of Honeydukes. 

Gryffindor tower was exploding with excitement when the four came back. There was a huge crowd around Lily, at least that's what they assumed. Lily was nowhere to be seen. James and Sirius put the Butterbeer crate on a table and watched as the students hoarded them.

James ran up the stairs and stood on the landing trying to spot her red hair.

"See her?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, in the middle of that mess. I guess it would be pointless to try to get her attention right now. I'll wait awhile." He headed back down the stairs and crashed in an armchair.

"Maybe," Sirius started, "she used a spell we've never heard of."

"I had her wand. It looked like the full body shield on steroids. When done correctly, as Gellar said, it should deflect minor curses. Lily almost destroyed the Great Hall and reversed the spell onto me."

"I thought Gellar said it was supposed to reverse," Remus said. "And that is what happened."

"Yeah, I guess."

"James, this doesn't mean that she's better at magic than you are, you know. I bet she's been dueling secretly for a while," Sirius said.

"Yeah I know that. But how on earth did she manage that spell or whatever that was? She was planning on doing it, that's why she urged me into hexing her."

"This means that you owe me ten Galleons, Sirius," Remus said.

"You guys bet on us?" 

"Yep. And James, I'm sorry that I bet against you, but Lily was having a rather good day."

"You bet against me?"

"I bet for you," Sirius said. James smiled.  
  


It took roughly an hour before Lily was free to talk. She came over and sat with James, who was staring absentmindedly at the wall.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he said back. "How did you do it?"

To all of their surprise, she giggled. "Honestly, I don't really know. I knew that I could do it, which is very strange, but I didn't know how to do it. Does that make any sense?"

"Not really," James said.

"Was it what Professor Gellar was talking about?" Remus asked.

"I think so. But I was really surprised with the walls buckling like they did. I didn't think that would happen. Anyways, what have you all been up to?"

"We were waiting for some answers. I've never seen magic like that," he said as he ran his hand through her hair.

"You know you did very well. I especially like the spell that made me expand like a hot air balloon. I was a bit nervous that you would use the naked hex on me like you did with Snape. I'm glad you didn't."

James chuckled. "I was thinking about it," he said.

"Oh were you, Mr. Potter?" she said with a laugh.

"Yes I was. But I do have will power. I can wait to see that when no one else does," he whispered to her. 

She leaned in toward him and kissed him.

"Yeah," Sirius interrupted, "we are still here. Maybe you two should get a room or something."

"I don't think they can hear you," Remus said.

"Oh they can hear me alright. They just choose not to. Just hours ago they were fighting with magic in a way that looked as though they were going to kill each other. Now look at them."

They were whispering to each other with smiles spread on their faces and kissed every now and again.

"Earth to James," Sirius said loudly.

"Yes, Sirius I chose not to hear you," he told him without looking at him. 

"I thought so," he said. He got up, walked to the food table and was followed by the others.

"So you really don't know how you did that?" James asked.

"No. It was weird. I just felt...warm. I really couldn't tell you. The only thing I know was that I was thinking of you. Strange isn't it?"

"Thinking of me...?"

"Right."

"In what way?"

"No, it was just the thought. Actually, if you want to know the whole truth it goes back to last year and the spoons. You remember that?"

James nodded. It was one of the most peculiar things he had ever seen. Lily had been sitting at the table and could manipulate a spoon just by looking at it. Her eyes had been strangely aglow as the utensil spun, twirled, and bent. When James put his hands over the spoon it changed into a blue bird and flew out of the Great Hall. Everyone had seen it, but Lily had never explained why it happened.

"Well, Professor Dumbledore took me to his office and asked me if there was a trigger."

"A trigger?"

"Right. I didn't know what he was talking about either. But then he said what it could have been...and I thought about it. The night before was the night you told me about your secret and I told you mine and then you said you loved me. That was the trigger, James. The reason I have all this power is because of you."

James smiled blankly. "So...what are you saying exactly?"

"Voldemort has it all wrong. Dark magic is based on hatred and anger. When was the last time you met a nice chap in the dark arts? It doesn't happen. He wants to take over the world and kill as many as he can to get power. While anger drives powerful magic, no doubt, it can be over come, though it doesn't seem so. It is so much easier to hate than it is to love in most circumstances. But if you have it, if you're loved and loved in return, the world is opened to you. That's the key. That's what will drive Voldemort out of the world. Love is the greatest magic of all, James."

He grinned at her and pulled her closer to him.

"You should tell them that."

"Oh, it's not that easy. You can't just walk up to someone and say what's needed. Most people won't be able to do it. I don't know. I think it'll all work out someday."

"I was thinking," James started.

"Uh oh," she chuckled. "Using that brain of yours is a dangerous thing. You might actually do something brilliant." 

"Are you mocking me?"

"It's my turn. What were you thinking about?"

"I'm going to work against him."

Lily stared. "You mean an Auruor?"

"No. There has to be some organization or something against him, right? I'll have to play it by ear, but that's what I really want to do. I want to stop him from taking over."

Lily smiled thoughtfully and drew closer to him.

* * * * *

Talks of jobs started to take over most of the conversations of the seventh years, especially the bright ones. There were very few wizard graduate schools, but they only accepted the best of the best. There was one in Leeds simply called "The Wizards Graduate University," and one in Scotland, not too far from Hogwarts: "Specialization of the Magical Arts Academy" which primarily focused on the practice and invention of Charms. Most other job specialization took place at various offices of occupation with strong emphasis on experience and imprinting. 

Many of the seventh years had their eyes on Ministry offices from Sports and Recreation to Astrological Divination. Liz was going to go for a job in Research and Development because she loved reading. Peter was looking at all options open that would take a C average student. That limited him to clerical positions, but he could rise with promotions in time. Remus decided he would do anything that would accept him with his disability. Lily had applied for admission to London's Institute of Magical Medicine and spent a lot of her free time going around to the teachers for letters of recommendation. James and Sirius looked into job opportunities in the International Wizard Bureau of Investigation, (IWBI). The IWBI wasn't attached to the Ministry of Magic, per se. Often the Ministry would toss work their way or give them a heads up, as the IWBI would do for them. It was a department dedicated to the eradication of Dark Arts witches and wizards as well as illegal activity the world over. Jade had of course applied to the Ministry Department of Magical History and Intelligence where she would analyze the history of various wizards, institutions, and countries to predict their future behavior. 

Interviews for non-Ministry jobs were being held over the Easter break while the others would take place following graduation. Lily spent a great deal of time reading about biology and magical charms that she might need to recite when Alumni from the London Institute came to see her. James found her idea to be a good one and followed suit with various court cases and laws.

"Shouldn't we also start studying up for Apparation? The tests are given two weeks after we get our diploma," Sirius said at the table that had a plethora of different books spread out.

James threw off his glasses and rubbed his face to try to stay focused. "Just one thing at a time, Sirius. Let's worry about that after interviews, final exams, N.E.W.T.s, and job acceptance or denial," he said in a yawn.

Sirius nodded silently and went back to his Charms homework. 

"I can't study anymore tonight," Lily said suddenly slamming a book shut. "I just can't focus anymore. I've been here since class let out and it's," she looked at her watch, "ten. We missed dinner."

"Studying is highly over-rated," Sirius said.

"Amen," James said as he lay his head down on his open potions book. "I can go scare up some food from the kitchens if someone will help me bring it all back up."

"I'll go," Sirius said

"Me too," Remus mumbled as he stared at his Transfiguration spells. So the three of them went down to the kitchens, nicked some food, then headed back up stairs to feed the studying fiends. After that they all got some much needed rest time and awoke the next day to repeat the procedure.

* * * * *

Jade Yang sat alone at the common room table with a sketch pad and dark drawing pencil. She didn't speak to anyone, didn't listen to the latest gossip going on next to her, and didn't think of studying. She had her back leaned against the wall with her pad on her knees and looked around the common room for interesting pictures. Drawing people was by far one of the most fascinating and entertaining hobbies, in her opinion, and it helped her to relax.

At the moment there were some first years playing exploding snap down on the ground, some fifth year boys flirting with girls, a lot of studying pupils, and James and Lily snuggled up in a chair reading. That was the most inspiring to draw.

She drew quickly the lines that made a general shape of their two heads and upper bodies, drew the lines for the proportion of the eyes, nose and smiling lips. She tilted her pencil for a thick edge to make the dark robes, and when she finally got the last movement line, she stopped.

"That's about right," she said, looking down at her paper then back up to the two. Now she could draw the details. 

"You're clearly not studying," Sirius said as he sat next to her.

"Hmmm..." she said as she drew Lily's happy eyes and smile.

"Oh, a different kind of studying. Maybe you could study me for a while," he said with a grin and a kiss on her neck. She let out a small laugh but kept her eyes on her subjects. Sirius looked at them too.

"They're happy together, aren't they?" he said.

"Yeah," she mused. "They have a closeness most couples don't. But they've been together for a while now."

"They've always been close, even the five years before their inevitable coupling. They were meant to be with each other, even if they do disagree from time to time."

Jade flipped the page and turned her attention to Sirius. 

"You drawing me now? You know when I said studying I meant something else."

"You mean for your potions test?" she said playfully.

"Damn the Slytherins for picking the same number as me," he said clenching his fist. "I don't know that I'll live past that exam. They're out to kill me."

Jade smiled, "They won't kill you if they want to pass. Wicks will be on standby with all the antidotes if something goes wrong."

Sirius leaned forward and tried to get a peek of her picture, but she drew back.

"Patience, Sirius. You can't disturb me when I'm at work," she said as she leaned back and continued to draw. "So what job do you want in the IWBI?"

"Something of esteemed importance, but they won't let me do that right out the gate. I'll probably have to apprentice someone before they give me real responsibilities. Eventually I would like to be an agent, you know? Learn all the secrets, find some out, that kind of thing. The IWBI is working 'round the clock against Voldemort, or trying to at least."

"Sounds like we may see each other during the day," she said with a grin.

"We might," he said slowly.

"You don't sound too happy with that Sirius. Don't worry; I'm sure it would only be happenstance. You're planning on working with James, correct?"

"Yeah. I hope we can get in."

"I'm sure you will, and you'll be great at it. When you actually want to get something done, you two are great. Even if it's not for the school's well being, or a Slytherin's for that matter." She looked up and smiled warmly at him.

"Hey, Jade," Lily called.

She broke her eye contact with him and turned to Lily.

"We need your historical expertise for a second."

She put her drawing pad on the table and went to help James and Lily. Sirius watched her, then looked down at her pad. He took it and flipped through. A picture of an owl, quite good, Professor McGonagall teaching, also pretty good, people walking that he didn't know and he assumed were from Hogsmeade. Then came the picture of James and Lily which captured their emotions perfectly. They were looking at each other with so much love and attraction, as they always did. There was so much character in the art, so much texture. Sirius smiled and flipped the page. The next drawing was of him, and he had to do a double take to fully appreciate it. It was a depiction of his smiling eyes, drawn with so much detail it gave him a funny feeling in his stomach he had never felt before.

He looked from the drawing, which had been done quickly but certainly with much feeling, to her. She was explaining something to Lily, moving her hands to help her conduct what she was saying. James looked over at Sirius and winked. Sirius grinned back.

He couldn't remember ever feeling this way about a girl before. Sure he had been attracted to them, mostly physically, but never on a deeper level. The thought of falling in love had never really seeped through his mind. He did want to eventually, but if he was falling for Jade, if he was feeling just more than the sexual attraction he usually had for women, what did that mean? He knew one thing for sure; it terrified him. He'd seen James do crazy things for love; turning down that offer was what stuck out in his mind, but there were other things. He remembered one time in their fourth year when James worked all night at a charm to impress her, which he thought was a little mental. As it turned out the whole thing backfired because he was so bloody nervous. James had meant to transfigure a glass goblet she was holding, into a bouquet of flowers, but instead it turned into a cactus; Lily had to go to the hospital wing. James felt terrible about it and spent the rest of the day making perfect flowers and took them up to her.

Sirius laughed at him then, at how obviously silly he had been, but it had worked. In his fifth year James had nearly kissed her-nearly. He was so excited that he set a chair on fire and scared her. 

He remembered James talking all night about Lily one summer, and in no way sexual. Sirius of course thought he was nuts, but now...

This was crazy, he thought, he was too young to be tied down to one woman. He was meant to explore, taste all the flavors before choosing a favorite, walk on all paths before running, experience all that he could before committing himself to one person with promises and a ring. James was the crazy one. Yeah. That's right, Sirius. You're perfectly normal. James is the nutter in this case. Who the hell, in their right mind, proposes marriage at sixteen in a train station? Who gives up world fame for a woman? That's right old boy, your pal is the one off his rocker. Don't you worry about being alone, you're good looking.

Then another voice came into his head.

Ah, but looks diminish with time.

That's what magic is for. Go away.

James never has to fear loneliness, now does he? Never has to worry about being unappreciated, or unloved. You, on the other hand, do, my friend. What are you going to do when James is with her? Going to go out by yourself? Going to laugh with yourself? Sounds depressing if you ask me.

No one's asking you. Don't listen to that yuts. You have a natural gift with women. They love you; they adore you. You're a fun guy who makes people laugh. You're smart, you know, Sirius. Twelve O.W.L.s, a really high score. Prefect as well. You could have any woman you want.

What's wrong with Jade, Sirius? She's smart, a prefect in fact, just like you. Obviously cares about you, wants you to be happy and do well with your life. She's pretty as hell and has a stunning smile that you can't resist. She's special. The more you get to know her, the more you like her. Has that ever happened before?

"No," he said out loud. Jade turned and looked at him.

"Pardon?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud."

Don't you remember how you felt last year when James finally got together with Lily? You had your first tinge of envy, didn't you?

Yeah, 'cause he kissed a girl long and good. What's not to envy?

No, you wondered if you would ever be that happy, Sirius. Jade's your chance. Take it. 

Say you do marry this girl. Say she makes you happy for a little while. She'll turn into your wife, Sirius. She'll control you, like your mother controls your father. She'll ask questions about where you're going, what you're doing, who you were with. You don't need that. You should be free!

She'd only ask those questions because she worries about you. It's a dangerous world out there, and your job will deal with dangerous people. She wants to know you're safe. Wouldn't you ask the same of her? Don't you want some secure, unconditional love? No one can live without that, can they?

"Sirius," Jade said, "looking at my work?" She smiled at him voluptuously and kissed him softly on the lips.

"How can you draw me like that?" he asked.

"I love your smiling eyes. They're your most lively feature. It's what I think of first when I hear your name; those eyes, smiling at me. I hardly had to look at you to sketch them right. Now, do you want to talk about art, or should we go to that room you showed me and do some 'studying'?"

He took her hands in his and grinned up at her. "You are beautiful," he said.

She laughed coyly and blushed. "Thanks," she said. "You're not too bad yourself, handsome."

"You don't think so, huh?" he stood up and pulled her towards him and kissed her.

"Well, you are rather cute. James is cuter," she said playfully. 

He put his arm around her waist and walked her out of the common room. He could still hear those voices arguing with each other, very faintly now, but still there. It seemed they were playing tug-of-war with the strings of his heart and he couldn't tell who was winning.

'She could be your match,' the one said.

'Or not; there are many fish in the sea,' the other said.

"Perhaps," his own neutral voice said loudly in his overactive brain. "But surely I have time to decide on that. Right?"

*******************************************************************************************************************************

Author's Note number Two: Sorry to bother you again, I just wanted to say one more thing and was afraid if I added more to the message at the top I would scare you all away. I think it's safe to say that this story has been pretty safe, meaning that most content is about PG. I have rated this story PG-13 and while most has been pretty mild, I will be bumping it up a notch. Nothing really expicit or inappropriate but it will get more 'heated' as some people are getting older and married. So that is that. There are only two more chapters for the Seventh year, then on with life for the Marauders. I'll see you all soon.


	22. Predictions and Prophecies

***The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. Events taking place shouldn't be taken as true to the events leading up to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Characters and locations belong to J.K. Rowling; no copyright infringement is intended. This story isn't to be duplicated or sold.***

  
  


Author's Note: After learning the very happy news that the Order of the Phoenix is coming on June 21, I have decided to write as fast as it is possible for me to do. I will probably discontinue writing my story after this June, since I'll be reading her new book for the tenth time. And I doubt that anyone else will be reading this as they will also have the new novel. So, I will try my hardest to get this story finished in a timely fashion. If I don't I leave it wherever and write an epilouge, which I planed on already, but it would be really, really long. I still have one more chapter of the seventh year, then on to the real world. Spring Semester is coming and I'll have 15 units so I'll be fairly busy, but I'll write as often as I can. I would also like to say how much I love all of my readers! I mean not the deep down love, but "God I love those guys!" type of love. I know you're not all guys, I don't know if I even have guys...I just say it that way. Thank you so much for your encouragement and support, I really appricate it.

  
  


Note #2: Yeah, I know, not another note. This will be short. This story concerns mostly Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and doesn't really cover any other books. If you haven't read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, this is a warning. This chapter contains plot revealing information to Chamber of Secrets and hopefully beyond book four, if I theorized correctly. 

  
  


Part Nine: Predictions and Prophecies

"The Dark Lord will come knocking at your door..."

  
  


"Lily Evans?" a tall good-looking man with thick sandy, blonde hair said. Lily got up and smiled warmly at him, which he politely returned, and followed him into an empty classroom. He motioned for her to sit down in front of a desk.

"Hello Lily. I'm Doctor Hugo. This is my fellow Alumni, Doctor Brown," the handsome man said. His partner was a rather unfriendly looking woman with small glasses and had her heavily gelled hair in a tight bun. She didn't smile at Lily. Doctor Hugo, however, was nothing short of sexy. He was tall and strapping with a well-chiseled face and a great tan. He did smile when Lily grinned at him. "Please sit down," he said, motioning to the chair for a second time.

Lily sat and folded her shaking hands in her lap. Doctors Hugo and Brown started to look at what she assumed to be her file.

"I see you get excellent grades," he said, fingering through various papers. "Got top marks on you wizard assessment tests last year, well done. Head Girl, prefect, and a very clean record. Only one detention?"

Lily turned the shade of a cherry and prayed that he wasn't going to ask why she was issued that detention.

"Not a bad mark in your seven years at this school, and you come highly recommended by all of your professors and the Headmaster. You're the perfect student," he said putting her file aside. He continued to smile at her. Doctor Brown stared. "So why do you want to be a doctor?" he asked.

Lily took a deep, relaxing breath and collected her thoughts. "Well," she started, trying to ignore the unpleasant aura surrounding Doctor Brown, "my wish is to help people. Since I was very young I've always wanted to help those who couldn't help themselves, and the best thing I can think of is to heal. My father is a doctor, you see, a vascular surgeon to be precise, and I was always keen on hearing his stories about his patients and how he cured them. Blood never bothered me, nor did talk of it."

"Your parents are Muggles, is that right?" Doctor Brown asked.

Lily smiled, but not with happiness. "Yes."

Doctor Brown raised her brows suspiciously. Lily dearly wanted to say something inappropriate but held her tongue.

"Do you realize that Wizard doctors are very different than Muggle ones? And that our Medical Schools are nothing like Muggle schools?" she asked again.

"Yes, I know that," she said politely, though it proved difficult.

"Well," she insisted, "what do you know about our school?"

Lily hated her. She was reminded of Petunia as she looked at those cold blue eyes which looked as if they had been frozen.

"I won't be able to see a patient for a long while, years actually. Since I haven't learned anything of biology here, I have to take courses at your school. I would start off with the study of the human cells and gradually move to more complicated systems of the human body. In my second semester I will focus on anatomy, bones, muscles, the organs, and so forth. In my second year I would learn about the more complicated aspects of the body, such as genetics, the brain, and so forth. Finally in my second semester of my second year, I would learn various spells, materials, and techniques used to cure injures. In my first semester of my third year I'll learn how to recognize and treat diseases. After an intensive commutative test, which I must pass with a ninety percent, I can start seeing patients as an apprentice to a doctor. Should I go on?" she asked.

Doctor Brown looked thoroughly disappointed, but Doctor Hugo smiled at her.

"No, Lily. You probably know that we can only select a small number of people to attend our school, as we want the student- teacher ratio to be very small. If we did accept you, you'd be studying with us half the day and then go home and study there. Lectures can be held on weekends, usually Sundays, so that all can attend no matter what their schedule. Once you reach your third year, and pass the exam, you'd be traveling to hospitals, usually within Britain, to see different cases."

Lily nodded.

"Now, before we dismiss you, is there anything you would like to add?"

She thought. Should she tell them about healing James? That would certainly impress them, give her an extra edge, but how could she say it without landing him in trouble. She could lie...that isn't right though. She'd just have to rely on her record.

"Just that I really want into your school. I know it's the best out there, and I promise you wouldn't regret accepting me."

He smiled. "We'll let you know in a few weeks." He stood up, held out his hand, and shook hers. Lily moved to Doctor Brown and shook her limp hand, then left. As soon as the door closed she exhaled, walked a few feet, and slumped onto the ground.

  
  


Not too far from Lily, an elderly wizard, who was bald and very jittery, was examining James's record. He sat in a chair across from the man, and held his hand to his mouth.

The old man didn't speak at all but did made funny noises like, "Hmmm..." and "Umm Hmmm..." and the occasional "HA!" which made James jump. James thought he was looking and talking to people that weren't there, and then he wondered if that was part of the interview. The man flipped through James's grades and made a funny sound with his teeth, then tapped his feet.

"Are there any questions you'd like to ask me, sir?" James asked.

"Questions?" he said loudly. "Questions? Questions? No, no, no, no. Questions? No. No questions. No questions." He went back to making funny sounds, and James started to sweat.

James began tapping his heel when the man stood up suddenly and yelled, "Done! Done! Done!" James almost had a heart attack and was now convinced that the man was a total loon. "We're done. You may go. GO! We're done. You may go. Go now! Go now!" James was only too happy to and ran from the room.

"How did it go?" Sirius asked.

James caught his breath and raised his eyebrows meaningfully.

"That man is a nut. I mean it. He's a real case. Never met someone as mental as that character. Good luck in there."

James started to leave when the man came bursting from the room looking paranoid. "Next! Next! Next!" He looked at his clipboard and yelled, "Syrus Bla! Syrus Bla! Don't have all day. Don't have all day, Syrus Bla! Hurry. Hurry!"

Sirius ran to him. "Here I am, and it's Sirius Black, sir," he said calmly and politely.

"Who? Who? What? Syrus Bla?"

Sirius nodded his head slowly, "Yeah, that's me." He followed the man into the room and made a desperate face at James, who winked.

  
  


"I'm afraid, Mr. Lupin, that we cannot accept you for this position. I'm sorry," the plump witch in pink robes said.

"But I meet all of your criteria for this job. Why won't you give it to me?" he asked.

"Well," she started, "we're looking for someone very specific."

"I can be specific; please tell me what you want. I can do this job," he pleaded with her.

She shook her head and sighed. "No, Mr. Lupin. We know what we want for this, and you don't have it. I'm sorry."

"I get good marks. I have great recommendations. I'm hard working. I'll do anything."

"Perhaps you don't understand. We don't want your kind."

Remus stared at her with agony. He was hoping she wouldn't care about that, hoping she might over look it.

"I've never hurt anyone, Mrs. Robinson. It's not like I choose to be this way. It happened to me when I was a toddler; it's not my fault. Just give me a chance to prove to you that I can do this."

She looked sympathetic with him, but shook her head. "We have a policy. We can only hire humans. No werewolves, vampires, veela, or other sorts. Just humans. I'm sure you'll find work elsewhere. Good day to you."

Remus sat there staring at her for several seconds before pulling himself up and walking out. He closed the door behind him and started back to Gryffindor tower, looking at his feet all the way there.

* * * * *

At twelve everyone congregated in the Great Hall for lunch. James, Sirius, and Lily were relieved that their interviews were over, but now they had to wait for offers. Remus hardly touched his food; he watched the others talk about their nerves, which were now gone, and wondered if they would get their positions. It was like he was seeing it all in a blur, like he was standing in the snow and looking at a family at Christmas dinner through a glass window. 

"I wonder what it's like," he thought, 'to be them. Anxious about their future, not fearful. I wonder if I'll ever be in that place. I only wish that someone would hire me. There must be some job I can do, there must be."

"How did your interview go, Remus?" Lily asked.

"Oh fine. I'll hear from them in a few weeks," he lied. James and Sirius seemed to be on to him; they smiled sadly at him. "But it sounds like the three of you did great. I'm sure you'll all get in."

"Yeah, Syrus Bla and I will be terrific," James said with a grin.

"Who?" Remus asked, trying to forget his troubles and woes.

"Our interviewer was a little..." Sirius started, "crazy."

"Crazy is a nice way of saying it. The man was a full blown nutter in desperate need of psychological study," James mused.

"At least you didn't have the ice queen," Lily stated. "This woman looked as though she was sitting on nails. It's a good thing there was another doctor there. He was much better." Lily went slightly pink.

Jade walked up to them and blew air out her mouth so that her hair swished up.

"What damage did you cause?" Sirius asked her as he scooted over for her to sit next to him.

"No bloody idea. I memorized all these historical facts because I thought they would ask me, right? Yeah, they didn't. I think I probably sounded like a blithering idiot." She picked up her fork and started carving shapes into her mashed potatoes.

"I'm sure you did fine. We were all nervous, and they understood that," Sirius said.

"Yeah, but I can't help but focus on my mess ups rather than my good sequences. What about you guys, how did you fair?"

Sirius told her in great detail about his interview, and she laughed so hard she cried. James described a similar experience, and Lily talked about hers.

"Hey, did you have that tall good-looking blonde?" Jade asked.

"Oh, Doctor Hugo," Lily said blushing yet again.

James looked at her with curiosity. "Doctor Hugo, dear?" he said putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah. So you saw him, Jade?"

"I almost faked a coronary," she said going red. Lily giggled. "He's gorgeous. And he seemed so nice, too. Was he nice?"

"Yes, he was really nice. And I couldn't tell through his robes, but I think he has a really good body," Lily said with a strong grin.

"He does, I can tell," Jade said with the same evil grin.

"It's like we're not even here," Sirius said to James.

"No kidding. It's like they don't appreciate us."

Jade and Lily looked astounded at what they heard.

"Don't even make me go over the beginning of the year when both your eyes fell out over Professor Gellar, and you didn't notice us," Jade said. James and Sirius went pink and ceased all discussion of that matter.

  
  


Sirius and James were walking down the Charms corridor by themselves. No girlfriends, no Remus or Peter, and no thoughts of exams. It was a time for them to spend together in a comfortable silence, alone with their thoughts about a great many things, mostly concerning the future. 

Their shoes scuffed the ground occasionally, as they were just moseying along, not in any hurry to be someplace. It was a calm Saturday afternoon. They sky was a periwinkle blue, the grass was bright green, and the lake was as smooth as glass. It was a relief to have a relaxing period where there was no discussion of tests, Quidditch, or their jobs, which they had yet had word. It took quite some time before their silence was interrupted.

"So, I had some thoughts a little bit ago," Sirius started. James looked sideways at him, giving him his full attention.

"Yeah? 'Bout what?"

"Jade. I was thinking about her."

"Good," James said. "You should be. It's a very good sign."

"Yeah, I know," he said but wasn't confident in his answer. "You ever have arguments inside your head? Like there are two voices in there telling you what to do?"

"Sometimes," James said. "What did they tell you?"

He made his lips thin and furrowed his brow. "I had this funny feeling when I looked at a picture she drew of me. A feeling I never had before. Then this voice told me she was the one, the one I should be with. Then the other voice told me to browse some more."

James smirked. "And what did you tell them?"

"To shut up, basically. Is this strange? Am I losing my sanity?"

"No. I think you like her a lot. But there must still be a part of you that wants to be with other women as well."

Sirius grinned. "Thanks for all the help. I kinda figured that out on my own."

"Well I'm not a mind reader or a shrink. What did you expect me to say?" James said.

"Which voice should I listen to? The one that tells me to go all over the world and be with as many women I can, or stay with Jade and see what happens?"

"If it were me, I'd stay with her and see what happens. But that's me. I'm a one-girl guy; you're not and never have been. Which do you want?"

"James, you aren't helping me, man. If I knew which I wanted, then I would do it. But I don't. I mean, what if there is another girl out there who I like more, but I have to find her? Or what if Jade is the one, but I go looking for this mystery woman, and I end up alone in my old age? I don't want to be alone."

"Then you've answered your own question," James said wisely. 

"But I'm seventeen. Who finds the right person at seventeen, besides you?"

James chuckled. "Well, my parents did, as did yours. Remus's, and others. It's not uncommon."

"So I'm the weirdo in this case?"

"No," James said. "I don't think you really know what you want. Just think about it for a while. No one says you have to decide now what you want to do."

Sirius nodded and continued walking around the school in silence, with James by his side.

  
  


Owls flew into the Great Hall later that April, as they did every day of each year, but today was different. Today they would find out about their future.

Jade was the first to get her letter. It was small and official looking. It had the Intelligence seal stamped on the back in wax. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she ripped it open.

"Read it out loud," Sirius said.

She opened her eyes, looked down at the note, and read: "Dear Miss Yang, We are very pleased to inform you that your qualifications and recommendations are perfect for this department, and we offering you a job starting July 1, 1978," she said with wide eyes. "I made it!" she cried. "I'm in!" She threw her arms around Sirius, then Lily and James. "I'm so happy!" she said with tears in her eyes.

Then the second letter dropped. 

James reached out for it and examined the addressee: S. Black.

"It's yours," James said, handing him the envelope. Then another letter with the same envelope fell on the table. It was addressed to James.

"Well," he said to Sirius, "the moment of truth. Will our school record number of detentions finally catch up with us?"

"God I hope not. Let's open it together," he said.

"Okay," James said nervously. "If one of us doesn't get in..." he trailed.

"Let's not worry about that just yet," Sirius said. "On three?"

"Don't open on two, Sirius," James said. "I hate it when you do that."

"Right. You count."

James took a deep cleansing breath. "One...two...three," he said opening his letter.

"'Dear Mr. Potter," James started as Sirius nodded signifying that he was doing the same. "The International Wizard Bureau of Investigation," he stopped and looked at Sirius who nodded, "requests," looked at Sirius again and saw him nod, "your presence for the second phase of the interview process." Sirius nodded and sighed with relief.

"Next phase?" Lily said.

"Yeah. Now we have to go through the background checks and the second interview with the Director. If we make it through that- "

"We're in," Sirius finished. They sighed a breath of relief and threw their letters on the table and started on breakfast.

Fifteen minutes later, a very handsome owl flew into Hall and dropped a very heavy and large envelope in front of Lily.

She opened it in a flurry.

"Dear Miss Evans, bla bla bla..." she started then her face broke into a grin. "Congratulations!" she yelled. "I'm in!"

James embraced and kissed her. "I knew you would," he said. "When do you start?"

She skimmed the letter. "September 21. Oh that's perfect. We'll be back from Rome by then."

"Rome?" James and Sirius said.

"Yes."

"Why are we going to Rome?" James asked.

"The honeymoon," she said like it was perfectly obvious. "When I asked you where you wanted to go, you said you didn't care."

"Right," James said nodding his head in understanding.

"You don't care where you're going?" Sirius asked.

"Nope," James said casually.

"Why not, you're going to be there for over a week," he said.

James grinned and leaned over to Sirius. "We won't be spending much time outside," he said with a wink.

"Ah," Sirius said. "Have the invitations been sent out, 'cause I didn't get one," he said.

Lily shook her head. "No. My father's trying to get this beautiful garden setting in London for us. I can't send them out until I know the location."

"Where are you going to live?" Remus finally said. He had been desperately quiet when the mail arrived, so Lily was taken aback when she heard his voice.

"We don't actually know yet. We've looked at houses in three different towns, but they're too expensive for us right now."

"I can't really buy anything until I sell my old house," James said. "And we can't get a loan until we're married and I have a job."

"So what are you going to do?" Remus asked.

"It'll have to be a small flat until we get a loan or sell the house in Godric's Hollow."

"How long has that house been up for sale, James?" Sirius asked.

"A couple months after. I don't think too many people are interested in a house where someone died." He got real quiet and looked back at his food. The rest of them exchanged uneasy glances.

"A flat will be fine. Kinda fun actually. It'll be just me and James, and a puppy," she said with a smile trying to change the subject.

"Puppy? Who said anything about puppies?" James asked.

"Oh, come on, James? Didn't you ever have a dog?"

"No," he said.

"So now's your chance! I've always wanted a cute little puppy, who wags his tail when you come home, snuggles up to you by the fire, brings your slippers to you."

"You don't need a dog," Sirius said smiling. "James already does all of that." They all laughed.

"Have you thought of a name for this animal?" James asked. "Not that I'm encouraging the idea, because I really don't want a dog."

"Bubba," she said.

James snorted into his drink.

"Bubba?" he laughed.

"Uh huh," she said. "What, you don't like that name?"

"I think it's stupid," he said candidly. She looked humored with his statement.

"Oh is that right?" she said.

"Yes, that's right. Bubba is a stupid name."

"Uh huh. So, what would you name it?" she asked, folding her arms and smirking at him.

He took a sip of his orange juice, thought, then nodded. "I don't want to encourage this idea because we aren't getting a dog, but if we were, then I think a good name would be Hercules or something."

Sirius and Remus nodded. "Good name for a dog," Sirius said.

"I hate that name. And why can't we have a dog?" she asked.

"A number of reasons. One, we'll be living in a flat which means the landlord won't allow it. Two, who's going to take care of it? I'll be working so we can move out, and you'll be studying all day long. And three, they smell."

"They do not smell," she said laughing.

"They do when they get wet," James said. "Then you have to house break them, and walk them so they can take a dump, and you'd probably make me do it when the weather isn't favorable."

"I must be such a horrible person," she said grinning.

"Yeah, but you're pretty so I'll make an exception," he joked. She smiled brightly and kissed him. "Didn't you want kids?"

"Yeah," she said taking his hand and squeezing it.

"Well why do you want both? As soon as you have the kid, you'll ignore the dog. I saw you with that Trevor kid over Christmas."

"It's 'Tyler,' and the dog would be like a starting kit before we have our first baby girl," she said.

"We're not having a girl," James said flatly.

"What, you don't like little girls?" she asked drawing her hand back.

"It's not that I don't like girls; we're just not having one," he said.

"How do you know?" she said shortly.

"I just know. We're having a boy," he said calmly.

"No," she said shaking her head and waving her hands around. "No. We're having a girl."

"No, we're not," he said.

"Yes we are," she answered back raising her eyebrows and widening her eyes.

"Are not," he insisted.

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!"

"No!"

"STOP IT!" Sirius yelled. Half the hall turned to look at him. "I can't believe this conversation is being held. We have yet to graduate, and you're both discussing the sex of your not even conceived child. Doesn't that seem a little odd?"

"James," Lily said ignoring Sirius's last statement. "How do you know?"

"How do you know?" he asked back.

"I don't," she admitted.

"And I do. Problem solved," he said. Sirius started to snicker.

"James," she said in a tone not unlike an adult explaining something to a small child, "how do you know? No one can see into the future."

"I can't tell you that, Lily. I just know. Can't you live with that answer?" he looked around at his group of friends and saw they were all grinning, as if thoroughly entertained.

"No. There has to be something, or you're just making it up; a more likely answer."

"Fine, there is something. But even if I did tell you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Try me," she said. Everyone leaned in closer to hear what James had to say.

"Fine. Remember last year, after I held tryouts for Seeker? I said that I had a strange dream. Then you got that letter from your mom about your sister marrying tubby," he said trying to make her remember.

A look of realization hit her, "Yes," she said. "Go on."

"Well I saw him in that dream," he said then took a bite of eggs.

"You saw our child, who has yet been conceived, in a dream?" she asked as if he wasn't mentally stable.

"Yep," he answered. "And I'm sorry to say he looks nothing like you."

"Huh," she said sitting back with a grin. "So what's his name?" she asked.

"I don't know. But he looked like a Merlin to me."

This time Lily snorted. "Merlin?" she said. "Now that's a stupid name."

"Oh is it? Well just so you know, I think it would be cool. I mean it's meant to be. He'll get the Order of Merlin, first class, so it'll be 'Merlin gets Order of Merlin.'" Sirius, Remus, and Peter thought it was funny, Jade and Lily didn't.

"Merlin is a horrible name for a child."

"Oh. What would you name him?"

"Julius," she said proudly. The boys shrunk in horror.

"Yuk!" James said. "I hate it!" he said with an expression like he had tasted gasoline.

"That is my favorite boy's name, I'll have you know."

"A person named Julius puts lotion on his hands, cries all the time, and doesn't play Quidditch like Merlin does."

Lily rolled her eyes and cracked a smile. "This is ridiculous. I'll bet you we're not having a boy as our first child."

"No? What will you bet?"

"You sincerely believe that our first child will be a boy? You truly think this?" she asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Care to make it interesting?" she asked smiling evilly.

"Why not? I know I'm right."

"Fine. If our first child is a girl, you have to..." she trailed off in her thoughts.

"Let's make it really interesting. If we have a girl, I'll streak through this very castle."

They all laughed at the randomness of the statement and the image it caused them to think about.

"You'll streak?" Lily asked, blushing.

"Yep," he said with a grin.

"You'll run through this castle, when student's are at lunch, into this Hall, naked?" she asked again.

"Buck naked. I'll do it, if we have a girl."

The rest of them couldn't stop laughing.

"If, however, I'm right, and we have a boy, you'll have to pay," James said.

"You mean other than carrying him around for nine months and going through a painful delivery?" she asked.

"Of course. I mean it won't be right after. You can recover some. I got it. You change all of his diapers for...three months."

Lily looked at Jade, who smiled and shrugged. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were still sniggering but nodding to her.

"You're on. We have a girl, you streak. We have a boy, I get the diaper duty for three months." She put out her hand, and he shook it, never remembering a time he was so sure about the future.

* * * * *

And then on a warm sunny day in June, final exams commenced. Remus had drawn the shortest straw so it was his duty to awake the others with cheeriness. He stretched in his warm bed and reached for his watch; it was six, the time he was to wake his classmates.

"Oh bother," he yawned. He got up and dressed, went to Peter first, and threw back the curtains.

"It's time, Pete," he said. Peter stirred but didn't wake. "Peter," Remus said, shaking him, "time to get up, Peter," he said. Finally he yawned and waved Remus back.

He moved to James's bed next, figuring it was the lesser of two evils when it came to opening the eyes. "Prongs," he said, shaking James. "Time to rise and shine."

He opened one eye and looked up.

"Just five more minutes," he said. "Five more minutes," and he trailed off.

"Rumor has it," Remus began to say, "that the seventh year girls are having a pillow fight across the way."

James sat up quickly, as did Sirius in the bed next to him.

"Really!" Sirius yelled. 

Remus started to chuckle. "No, but it sure motivated the two of you, didn't it?" he said. "It's six. Time to get ready for the last time we ever take end of the year exams."

"Don't you sound sentimental," Sirius said, ruffling his hair and heading for the bathroom. 

Charms and Herbology were the first tests. Little Professor Flitwick gave them a written exam as well as practical. When it came to choosing partners for the second part of the exam, everyone went to Lily, but she declined them all and chose Jade.

They had to destroy various objects and then reassemble them. Though the idea was simple, the spells were complicated. Lily shattered her vase into powder and then returned it back to normal without the movement of her lips. James and Sirius did a fairly good job, not as well as Lily had, but enough to get good marks.

Herbology was comprised of questions of different plants, obviously, and even the snapdragons made a debut. They had to know how to use the pollen and root fluids of the South Western lilac to make a simple aging creme, which most of them didn't know.

"Two down," Sirius said as they walked to dinner.

"And far too many left," James said. "Tomorrow it's Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts followed by good old History of Magic and Potions. After those, the hardest ones, Care for Magical creatures and Divination will be a cinch," James said.

"Six more bloody exams," Sirius said. "Then we have N.E.W.T.s to look forward to. God I love the end of the year," he said with a clear note of sarcasm.

"And after this we hit the real world," Remus said. The corners of his lips sank as he thought about his future. Lily and James were getting married, Sirius was bound for something awesome, he thought, Jade going away to the Intelligence department, and his own Liz to Research. Even Peter could get a job somewhere, have a home, and not worry about the next day.

He'd be lucky if he could get a job as a cashier in Madam Malkin's Robe shop. He tried to shake off his thoughts as he sat down and ate with his friends.

"So," Sirius began, "what does Professor Gellar have up her sleeve?"

No one answered. They all pulled out books and began studying. That was the attitude for the rest of the week, actually. They had time to eat, sleep, and study; that was it. The rest of the time they tested.

Professor Gellar also had a practical exam. She tested them on various body shields, but Lily did the best job. The others gave weak protection, but the professor said she wouldn't grade too harshly.

McGonnagal's test was a breeze for James and Sirius. They transformed one another into teacups and back again earning them full marks. McGonnagal had tears in her eyes as they left, though she tried covering them.

"She loves us deep down," Sirius said. "We added flavor."

History of Magic was the same as every year. A written exam about all the mundane facts no one cared about or listened to, which Binns lectured on twice a week. They all scoured their tired minds for facts relevant to history and poured them out onto the parchment.

Then "Potions," Sirius groaned as he sat at lunch and didn't touch any of his food. "This could well be my last meal," he whined on. 

"They're not going to kill you, Sirius," James said.

"That's easy for you to say. Are you being poisoned by Snape? Huh? Are you? I think not."

James shook his head but laughed. "The entire class will be there, as well as Wicks. Snape's a lot of things, but he's not stupid. If something goes wrong, the professor will set you straight."

"Are you nervous, Lily?" Sirius asked her. She was the one in her group to be poisoned. But before she could answer, Sirius did for her. "Well why would you be? James is in your group, and he wouldn't let anything bad happen."

The bell rang.

"Oh my God," he said hitting his head on the table. "Can you tell my mother that I never meant to burn her favorite table? And tell Dad that I'll miss joking around with him, will you James?"

James smirked, but went along with it. "Sure, Sirius. I'll tell 'em that."

"I don't know what I'd do without you," he said. "And say something nice about me at my funeral, will you?"

"I'll tell them the truth," he replied with a smirk.

"No don't tell them that," Sirius laughed.

The dungeon where Potions was held was full of anticipation and nerves about the exam. It was by far the worst that they had had so far. Sirius went over to the Slytherin side and sat next to Snape, though he would have rather eaten rotten fish.

"This is going to be interesting," Snape said with a grin. Robert Lestrange and Eva Clancy came and sat next to Sirius and grinned with malice.

"You try anything funny, Snape, and you'll be singing soprano," Sirius said. Eva pulled out her book and opened it, never actually reading from it but staring into Sirius's eyes.

"Alright class," Professor Wicks began, "I see you've all gotten into your groups, excellent. I'm going to hand out the potions to the lucky ones who get to drink it, and then I'll tell you to get to work. Each group will have a different potion, and I encourage all four of you to work together to find the cure." He put a small vial filled with clear potion in front of Sirius who stared at is as though it were alive.

"I do hope you studied up on your potions, Black," Snape said. "I'd hate it if something went wrong."

"You'll be the one who regrets it Snape," Sirius said back.

Snape leaned in closer to him and whispered, "I'll never forget what you tried to do to me last year. Don't think I won't get revenge."

"Take your vials, everyone," the Professor said. Lily gave a final glance of reassurance to Sirius and drank her urine yellow potion. Sirius looked sadly at his vial then drank it in one go. 

At first he felt nothing, then he began to see double of Snape; one was bad enough, but now he saw two. He started to talk then, but his speech sounded really slow and deep, as did everyone else's.

"Wh," he started, but it took forever to get "at," out of his mouth. "Wh-at is -th-is?" he asked slowly, his head swimming in molasses. He saw Snape grin slowly and turn to Lestrange who was also smiling. He could hear the professor telling the class to start thinking of what the potion might be, which is what he was trying to do. The thing was his thinking, talking, and even breathing had slowed down considerably. He could actually hear the beating of his heart inside his mind.

On the other end of the room, Lily was writing away frantically with her quill all over everything, even her own body. She didn't listen to anyone or do anything productive. It wasn't until she started to write her name on Douglas Lacy's face that James tried holding her down. Even then she was so anxious to move that he couldn't keep hold of her.

"Summer!" James said, looking to his fellow Gryffindor to help him out.

Back with Sirius, Snape scanned his book for a potion that made the drinker painfully lethargic. Sirius tried looking through his book as well, but it took him three minutes to open it.

"Try to find out what the potion is!" Wicks yelled out to his class. It was pandemonium. Lily was writing nonsense all over the desks and other people, Sue Warner of Gryffindor was running around the class like a marathon runner while her group chased after her, and Michael Collins of Slytherin was laughing a deep hollow laugh while pointing his hand at Sue and Lily; his group was working on the antidote. "Come on class, it's not that difficult," Wicks said as, Lily wrote those very words on James's cheek.

"I'm really sorry about this, Lily," James said as he tied her to the chair. "Now, she's over active, and wants to write on everything. So what the hell kind of potion is that?" James said, as he wiped his face of all the words Lily had managed to write.

"Found it," Eva said, as she turned the book around for Snape to read.

"Stolier Potion," he said, as he read the description and symptoms. "It's not life threatening," he said with regret. They started brewing the antidote.

"Okay James, I think she's got the Expeditiosity Potion which causes the drinker to go into a hyper mode."

"What about the writing thing?" James asked, as Lily started moving in her chair, trying to wriggle her way out.

"Well it just says that they usually take whatever they have and go nuts with it. I know this is it."

"Why don't the two of you go and get the ingredients while I hold her down," James told Summer and Douglas who nodded and left, figuring their job was easier than his.

In less than a half and hour, Sirius was speaking normally and happy that he wasn't dead. Lily was no longer itching to write all over the place. Sue stopped running, and Michael was back to his sulky self.

"Glad that's over with," Sirius said, splashing his face with water in the bathroom.

"Told you it would be fine," James said, as he cleared his face of black ink. 

"It's down to Care for Magical Creatures, which should be a snap, and off to the bug woman. Do you think she'll make us look into that damn crystal orb again?"

"I have no idea. I just know that we are done studying for final exams. Now all we have to worry about are those godforsaken N.E.W.T.s," James replied with a grin full of relief.

  
  


Care for Magical Creatures was just as easy as they thought it would be. They had to care for a Unicorn family, so the boys got to watch and throw in advice.

At lunch they started studying for the N.E.W.T.s but not much; most of the classes would take care of that.

"Ten galleons says she'll tell me I'm going to bite the big one," Sirius said as the bell rang and they headed for Divination.

"You still owe me ten galleons from the duel outcome," Remus pointed out.

"I didn't think we were actually betting, to tell you the truth, Moony," Sirius said.

"No, I heard you say you bet for me, Sirius," James interrupted. "You do owe him."

"Thanks James. I'll be waiting for your money, Sirius. I can use ten galleons."

There was the traditional gathering of Gryffindors waiting at the bottom of the rope ladder; she'd call them up separately, as usual. They dropped their bags and leaned on the wall, watching other students ascend the ladder when their name was called.

"I am not going to miss this old bat," Sirius commented as he pointed upwards. "She needs to be committed, if you ask me. She doesn't even call people up in alphabetical order."

"Well Sirius," James said straight faced, "her Inner Eye tells her who to call next, you know. It doesn't come to her alphabetically."

"Remus Lupin!" they heard. 

"Oh boy," he said. "Wish me luck."

"Luck!" they said.

"Wonder what she's going to have us do," James said. He slumped down to the ground and stared out the window. This was his last final exam at Hogwarts. He was on his own from here on out.

Sirius sat beside him. "I was thinking that I want to move out of my parent's house this summer."

"Oh?" James said.

"Yeah. As soon as I get a job I'm going to live in a small apartment. You want to room with me?"

James smiled. "Absolutely. Of course it won't be very long."

"Well you can't live at my parent's house then move in with Lily. You have to live with me so we can have fun, party, and do all that good single stuff."

"I suppose," James mused with a chuckle. Moments later Remus slid down the ladder. James and Sirius stood up, and Peter came to him from the distant window.

"What's the damage?" Sirius asked.

"Astrological Divination my friends. She had me look at so many charts I'm still seeing stars. I just made everything up of course, as usual. She is predictable, you have to give her that."

"So what did she ask you?" James said.

"Oh stuff like where do I see myself, and she did the 'Hmmm' and 'Interesting,' and all. So if I were you three, I'd start thinking stuff up about the future. I'm going back to the tower to start for the N.E.W.T.s," he said. "Good luck."

"Sirius Black!"

"Oh Lord, here it goes," he said, as he started up the ladder. It was a while before he came down, which was good for them, bad for him, James and Peter figured.

"Future," Peter said to himself, "what's in my future." He started playing nervously with his fingers and watched Sirius come down the ladder.

"Well?" James said standing up.

"I lied," he said.

"About what?"

"All sorts of crap. I even said I saw myself here in fifteen years. Don't ask me why I said that, okay? I could only think of here and fifteen was the first number that popped into my head, so I rolled with it. Don't think she believed me though. Oh well, it's over."

"James Potter!" she yelled.

"I'll wait here for you, James," he said. James nodded and headed up the ladder. It was stifling hot, as it always was, and the perfume was especially strong today.

"In here," she said in her mystical voice. James went to her office, walked through the dangling beads that made up her door, and sat down in front of her desk. She pushed some star charts at him as well as the movements of the planets.

"Tell me what you can deduce from the heavens and celestial bodies of the universe," she said airily. He stared at the countless charts, looked at various constellations, their names, and their paths. He willed himself to see a pattern or some symbols that could tell him about the future, but he just saw a bunch of white dots of various sizes on a black map.

"Well, what do you see?" she asked.

"About me, or the world?"

"You can see both?" she said.

"Well, I can see," he started, then another voice popped up and said, 'nothing. You can't see anything. This is stupid. Do what Sirius did; lie.' He looked at her and saw she was leaning forward waiting for his answer. "I can see that I'm at a Quidditch match. My team is losing. I'm depressed because I bet a lot of money on them," he said but not confidently.

"I see," she said in a not-very-impressed sort of tone. "Anything else?"

"Um," he said, dropping a star chart by accident. "No, not really."

"Well," she said, writing some notes, "at least you tried. Not all have the Inner Eye."

"So, I can go now?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. He picked up the star chart off the floor, put it on her desk and started to get up when he saw her eyes roll back and flicker.

"Professor?" he said waving his hand in front of her. "Are you alright?"

A sudden grin split on her face, and she bent her chin to her chest.

"THE DARK LORD WILL COME KNOCKING AT YOUR DOOR," she began in a dark voice, nothing like her mystical tone. James stood up straight and stared at her. This wasn't real, was it? 

"What?" James asked breathlessly. Her face contorted into such a shape that she didn't look like Trelawny at all, but someone possessed by an evil spirit.

"THE DARK LORD WILL COME KNOCKING AT YOUR DOOR. ALL WHO STAND IN HIS WAY WILL FALL TO THEIR DEATHS. NOTHING CAN PREVENT THIS. SO IT HAS BEEN ETCHED IN THE STARS FOR ONE THOUSAND YEARS, AND SO IT WILL BE. NO ONE CAN STOP HIM. NO ONE BUT THE HEIR OF GRYFFINDOR; HE WILL SAVE US ALL...NO ONE BUT THE HEIR OF GRYFFINDOR.... HE WILL SAVE US ALL...HE WILL SAVE US ALL..."

James heard his heart beating out of control. 

Trelawny's head rolled back up, and her eyes came back into focus. "Oh, this day seems it will never end. It must be the heat that's making me so tired," she said, as if nothing at all had happened. "You may go, Mr. Potter. I still have students to test."

"You," James started, pointing his index finger at her. "You just told me that-that the Dark Lord will come knocking at my door," he said, his voice shaking.

Trelawny looked almost amused.

"I did nothing of the sort. I said you may leave then I sort of dozed off a bit. Dark Lord knocking on doors indeed," she said haughtily. 

"But you did!" James yelled. "And all that stuff about Gryffindor's heir being the only one that could stop him. Who the hell is that?"

"I didn't say any of that, my dear. I don't know what you're talking about. Now leave so I can finish my examinations!"

James started walking backwards, still staring at her. And then it hit him. Trelawny's voice from September swam into his head and said, "I have come to tell you something. I will give my first prediction in June, and I will give it to you." Was that it? Was that her first real prediction? If it was, he didn't like it much- not at all. He stumbled on a chair and nearly fell down the ladder.

"Whoa," Sirius said. "Are you alright?" James didn't say anything, but he was certainly not all right. He ignored Sirius and Peter's stares and ran down the many flights of stairs and corridors. People gave him quizzical looks, but he didn't care. He was breathing so fast and shallow he thought he was going to faint. Then he finally got where he wanted to be; Dumbledore's office entrance.

"Sugar Quill!" he yelled at the stone statue. "Chocolate cluster! Pepper Imp!" The Griffin began to rotate, and James jumped on the staircase that appeared from the ground. "Come on," he urged the steps as they rotated upwards. Finally his office door was in sight, and James ran to it and shoved it open. "Professor!" he yelled around the office, "Professor! I need you now!"

"What is it James?" he asked as he came down his stairs looking puzzled. 

"Trelawny-my final-and she told me that the Dark Lord would come to my house-said something about everyone dying that got in his way-only Gryffindor's heir could stop him-she said she would tell me back and September and she knew about the fight I had with Lily- "

"Slow down, slow down, James," Dumbledore said as he took a grip of James's shoulders. "Calm down," he said again.

"Calm down? She freaked me out!" he yelled, trembling with anxiety. 

"I can see that, but I need you to take a deep breath and tell me slowly exactly what Sybil told you, alright?"

James took a deep breath as requested and moved to a chair across from Dumbledore's. 

"Now," Dumbledore said, as he sat in his chair and folded his hands on his desk, "what did she say to you?"

"Well, she got kinda weird, I mean more than usual. She sort of slumped her head, and her eyes got all funny, and she told me that, and this is almost a direct quote, that the Dark Lord would come and knock on my door, and that no one could stop him but the heir of Gryffindor who'll save us all. Then she snapped out of it and denied ever saying it. But that's not the strangest part of it, Professor, because this all started back in September after I had that painfully long detention, which I deserved because I let my mouth run away from me, but..." he took another deep breath, "I fell asleep in her class, and she came to me in a dream. I know I sound crazy, but she told me that the reason she was there, in my dream that is, was because she was going to tell me her first true prediction in June."

Dumbledore looked at James through his half moon spectacles with great concentration. James thought maybe he should continue.

"I'm not hallucinating this. Back in September she said I'd have a terrible fight, and I did, with Lily. I mean if it was all in my head, then why didn't I see it coming? Then she said to take Sirius's advice and all would be well again, and I did, and it was. It all fits, and she told me she was going to tell me this. God, sir, she just got so spooky looking it sent a shiver up my spine, I swear."

Dumbledore still surveyed James but didn't speak.

"Professor?" James said. "What does all of this mean?"

"I can honestly say that I don't know, James. Sybil Trelawny, bless her heart, isn't what one would call a most accurate Seer. But I don't think she would do this as a practical joke, either. Perhaps she was up at night studying the past," he said.

"What do you mean?" James asked. Dumbledore got out of his chair and started to pace the room.

"The heir of Gryffindor has been prophesied before, long before your or my time for that matter."

"Oh, yeah, she said that the Dark Lord thing has been...um...etched in the stars for a thousand years."

Dumbledore furrowed his brow. "Well," he said, "this is terribly strange."

"What were you saying about Gryffindor?" James said again. 

"Ah, yes. There was a prophecy, one thousand years ago, approximately, which said that the heir of Slytherin would fall to the heir of Gryffindor. It was told by a very reliable Divination master. You see, James, Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor never really got along, much like you and Mr. Snape. Slytherin was convinced that he was a better wizard than Gryffindor, who of course disagreed. But he wasn't bothered by it so much. Then they had a huge disagreement about who should be admitted to this school; all wizards, even Muggle-borns, or just pureblooded wizards. Of course, Gryffindor's perspective won, and all magical children were accepted. Upset with the outcome, Slytherin left the school. But then he heard this prophecy and would be damned if his son was killed by Gryffindor's. Slytherin hunted Gryffindor down and killed him in a duel therefore insuring that his own son would never be harmed."

"But..." James said waiting for the story to continue

"There is no but. Gryffindor was never married; he had no children and therefore had no descendant or heir."

"So what was Trelawny talking about then?"

"Therein lies the mystery."

"Is there even an heir of Slytherin, sir?" James asked.

"Yes, there is; Voldemort. He is Slytherin's heir, on his mother's side."

"Does he know?"

"I'm afraid so," he said he sighed. "I taught him Transfiguration, you know?" he said, sitting back down.

"No I didn't."

"Yes. He was just as bright as you are, perhaps smarter or craftier. He was prefect and then Head Boy, like you, and quite handsome. I believe he found out about who he really was in his sixth year here, and I don't know exactly how. Perhaps he stumbled across a genealogy chart and found his mother was listed as a descendant and he as heir."

"What's the difference between descendant and heir?" James asked.

"Well, there are of course many descendants in the family line, but only one heir. The heir is the most powerful, magically, more so than the beginning of the line, more so than the parents. They are the strongest in all ways and exemplify their grandparent's best qualities. In Voldemort's case, he was very bright and ambitious, and could even talk to snakes, like that of Slytherin. He grew to be very powerful, as you already know, and could persuade people easily, as he still does. Slytherin would have been very proud of his heir; perhaps that is why he is.

"If there was an heir of Gryffindor, he would also be very strong in so many ways. But it would be astounding courage and bravery which would set him apart from the rest of the class, from the rest of the world. And so would the magic, far greater than the parents, and far greater than Gryffindor himself. It is too bad there is no such person, for I believe he could defeat Voldemort."

James looked into Dumbledore's eyes with fascination for this story. "What was his name, before he changed it?" 

"Tom Riddle."

James nodded but was still disturbed. 

"So everything she said isn't possible?" James said.

"By my knowledge, no."

"It's just that it was so real. And everything about that dream I had fit. You're positively sure that there is no 'Heir of Gryffindor'?"

"We have looked into that, of course. Voldemort is becoming quite dominant in his quest for power. We have been looking everywhere for this so called hero, the heir, to arrive. Extensive research has gone on to find a missing link, but Gryffindor simply had no children. Though her prediction sounded true, so did it one thousand years ago. Perhaps he would have never had a child, so Slytherin would have still been safe. To this we will never know."

James sighed. He looked over at Fawkes the Phoenix and smiled. Fawkes flew over and landed on James's shoulder.

"Ah, he's fond of you, I see. He doesn't take to strangers that well. But let's talk of more cheerful things, now that your final exams are complete. I saw you duel Miss Evans, and I must say you were quite an equal match. You fought very well, James."

James smiled at Fawkes, then turned to look back to Dumbledore. "Yeah, well she still beat me. I wasn't expecting that."

"She is very talented. She might have even beaten me, when I was your age of course," Dumbledore's face split into a friendly smile, and James, whose head wasn't so full of 'what ifs,' laughed.


	23. Graduation

***The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It is not to be taken as true to the events leading up to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Characters and Locations belong to J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended. This isn't to be reproduced or sold.***  
  
Author's note: I was going to have another long one, but I thought it would be more appropriate to remember the brave men and women of the Shuttle Columbia who died on re-entry into the earths atmosphere. Exploring, one of our inmost natures, is also dangerous, but we cannot deny that part of our humanity. The families of the crew have said that they want space exploration to continue, as do I. Space is the final frontier, and who knows what the universe holds. The crew of the Columbia were some of the best and the brightest in the world, and they will always be remembered.

  


The song at the end of the chapter is not written by me. It was preformed by Diana Ross for the movie 'The Land Before Time.' Yes, it's that cartoon with the dinosaurs, the first one. It was the first movie I saw with my mom, and the song reminds me of...well, you'll see. If you ever have a chance to hear it, I highly recommend it because it's very beautiful. I had to download it from the internet to get it so it's possible. Anyway, just wanted to tell you that. There is more to come; this isn't the last chapter so stay with me readers! Now here's chapter 23.

Part Ten: Graduation

"...and as we go on, we remember, all the times we spent together. As our lives change, come whatever, we will still be friends forever..."

  
  


The portrait door slammed open to allow Sirius, Remus, and Peter to pile into the common room. There were few people sitting inside, those who had finished their tests earlier than others, but they all looked up at the hasty faces that had just entered with so much commotion. Liz was sitting in a squashy armchair not facing the door reading a book, but she turned around quickly when she heard them enter.

"What's up?" she asked.

"James sprinted out of the Tower, and we haven't seen him since. He looked really upset. He isn't in here, is he?" Sirius asked.

"I don't think so. Is he alright?"

"Well, he nearly fell down the rope ladder then booked down the stairs. I don't know if he's alright or not."

"He looked as though he'd seen something dreadful," Remus said.

"No, I haven't seen him. Actually you're the first people I have seen. Lily and Jade are still taking the Arithmancy test."

"Well, maybe I'll go looking for him," Sirius said.

"We already have. Why don't you just let him come back to us, Sirius," Remus said. He dropped his books on the table and headed upstairs.

"What is wrong with him lately?" Liz asked. "He's been so agitated."

Sirius knew that the full moon was approaching, and he was probably fed up with stress. He shook his head at her then started for the door when James came in.

"There you are," Sirius said. "We looked all over for you. What happened, why did you leave like that? Remus saw you run past him, and he came back up to tell us."

James took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "It's nothing. I just had a bit of a scare, and I went to Dumbledore's office."

"Why?"

"Trelawny said something to me, like a real prediction, and it wasn't a very pleasant one. The scariest thing is that she didn't even remember telling it."

"Wait," Sirius said looking at him hard. "She gave you a real prediction? Didn't she say she was going to do that in your dream a while back?"

James nodded. 

"So what did she say?"

"It doesn't matter. I went to Dumbledore and explained it to him, and he said it couldn't be true."

"I still want to know," he said. Liz and Peter moved closer to them so they could hear as well. Then the portrait door opened again and a whole mess of Gryffindors of all years entered, including Jade and Lily.

"Glad that's over with," Jade said, Lily nodded.

"So what's going on?" Lily said, lacing her fingers through James's and kissing him. He turned to look at her but didn't know how to say it all again.

"I want to tell you something, but don't worry about it because it probably doesn't mean anything. Let's leave the common room though," he said. Lily looked puzzled by his expression, but she followed him out of the room, Sirius, Jade, Liz and Peter in tow.

James found an empty classroom and sat them all down then spilled the beans, word for word.

Liz shook it off saying that "the woman is a mental case," but she was the only one who thought that. Even Lily, who didn't really hold to all the Divination hype, looked at James peculiarly. After all, it wasn't just James's door that Voldemort would be 'knocking on' it would also be hers and whoever else's.

"But Dumbledore said that there was no heir, so that probably means the other half is false, too," Jade said.

"Yeah, but she came to him in a dream back in September, right James?" Sirius said.

"Right. I never thought she would actually do it, so I forgot all about it. She told me that she would give me a true prediction. But Dumbledore said that there wasn't anything to fret about. I booked out of the tower because it spooked me. So that's about it."

"Well if Dumbledore said it isn't so, that has to mean something," Lily said finally. "He has a good grasp on all of this, I'm sure. Too bad about the heir, though. I mean, I don't exactly believe all this future telling nonsense, but there's something to it being said twice, unless she did it to freak you out." Lily looked conflicted but told herself that it was nonsense. But she couldn't shake that tiny voice; could it all be true?

* * * * *

A handsome owl flew out of the Hogwarts owlery and began it's way south. It flew over many rivers, countless towns, many rooftops, and finally dropped it's letter through the mail slot of a manor.

'To the Parent's of L. Evans' was the only writing on the large envelope. Mrs. Evans opened it hastily and read aloud so her husband could hear:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Evans

You are cordially invited to the Hogwarts Graduation Ceremony of your daughter, Miss Lily Evans, on June 20, 1978. As you are non-magic, special arrangements will need to be met for your attendance. Two tickets have been enclosed in the envelope which you will need to present to a Mr. Krystoff Burrows at Kings Cross Station in London on the very same day. He will take you Hogwarts; you need not worry. 

As I'm sure you already know, your daughter will give a speech, as she is Head Girl of the class, along with James Potter, who is Head Boy.

We look forward to your presence.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster

Mr. and Mrs. Evans smiled and cried then laughed and cried again when yet another owl delivered another letter. This one was in an immaculate white envelope with very loopy writing on the front. Mr. Evans looked at it and balled before it was even opened.

'Robert and Amanda Evans request your presence at the joining of Lily Mary Evans and James Byron Potter in the ceremony of Holy Matrimony on September the eighth, nineteen hundred and seventy eight. The Ceremony will commence at two o'clock in the Queens Garden of Westminister, London. Please R.S.V.P.'

Inside was a small note from Lily which read: I just got them yesterday and wanted to send one to you for keepsake and to make you feel all mushy and old. Just kidding. I'm sending them out tomorrow to everyone on the list, which is friends and family. I love you both so very much. See you on the twentieth for Graduation.

Love always,

Lily

Amanda and Robert cried happy tears for the rest of the day.

* * * * *

The Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests were given on the fourteenth of June. James Potter was pulling at his hair as he looked at a, well...nastily difficult question. Sirius Black, who was on the way other side of the room, was whistling through his nose as he looked at the very same problem. Remus Lupin was focusing on burning the test with his eyes. Peter was not taking the test, so he was content with making funny faces at his friends through the door window.

Lily, when coming to a question she wasn't quite sure about, wrote as much as possible even though it might not be correct. When you don't have quality, why not go for quantity? Jade was painfully honest with her test. When she came to a question to which she had no clue, she would write a funny story which made her smile, would also make the people correcting the test smile as well, and put them into a better mood. When you don't have quality, try humor; after all, laughter is the greatest medicine. Liz, who was merely taking the test because she wanted to go into the Ministry, wrote what she knew and left it at that. Why write more if you don't know the rest?

At thirty minutes past twelve, a very loud and obnoxious noise sounded through the large testing room.

"Please set down your quills, and close the test booklets. The written part of the examination is over," a chubby little witch said. James threw down his quill, stretched, and looked back at Sirius, who made violent gestures with his hands. Jade had to pull the test from Lily, who was still writing frantically. Liz turned to see Remus, but he avoided her eyes.

Once the tests had been collected, the chubby witch went around and grouped people then sent them to various classrooms. Jade was put into a group with Remus and they were sent to the dungeons for the practical section of the exam.

"After this we're done and on with the show," Jade said as she walked along Remus.

"Yeah, on with the show," he said.

"Are you okay, Remus?" she asked. "You've been off color lately."

Remus tried to grin at her, but he feared it was very feeble. "Well it's just the end, you know?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah. It's the end. But that's not what's really bothering you, is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know if it's my place, so bear with me, but you and Liz don't seem to be hitting it off too well."

Remus sighed and shook his head. "No, we don't. I don't really want to discuss it."

Jade looked at him with concern but nodded and never mentioned it again.

Once in the dungeons, they were separated into different sections. Jade went with some Ravenclaws, and Remus went into a group of people with whom he'd never spoken. He figured they were breaking people up based on their chosen profession, and he was with the 'Undecided' crowd. 'Come on Remus. Just do your best,' he thought to himself.

Jade was tested on a number of things, but the concentration was on history with which she did very well. She breathed a sigh of relief and waited for Remus to finish. Liz showed up a minute later and sat down next to her.

"What is with him lately?" she said.

Jade shrugged. "Has he been offered any jobs?"

"He hasn't said, but I suspect no. I've tried talking to him, but he's just so distant." Liz sighed and leaned her head back against the stone wall. "We've been going out for a long while now, you know?"

"Yeah," Jade said, finding that no matter what she said Liz would vent feelings that she needed to express.

"If he can't tell me what's bothering him, then what kind of a relationship do we have? I'm going one way, which is fine, but he doesn't tell me where he's going. I appreciate that everyone has secrets, I really do, but GOD!" she cried out. Not a moment too soon, Remus came out of one of the classrooms and smiled at them.

Liz buried her present emotions and grinned at him, closing proximity.

"How did it go?" she asked taking his hands.

"I think I did well, but who knows. We'll see in a few days, right?" Liz nodded her head, and Jade found that to be a good time to sneak away and let them have some private time.

Back in the common room, Jade found Lily sitting on a pouf looking thoroughly relieved that all tests were now completed.

"So how do you think you did?" she asked Lily.

"Good. The written was a bit harsh, but the practical was a cinch. I'm just glad it's all off my head. I can relax now for a good five minutes before I have something else to do. What about you?"

"Well, I kinda B.S.ed the written when I had no idea. Actually that's not all together true. I wrote a story about two guys and a dragon when I got to that question about that one transfiguration spell that required something I had never heard of in my life."

"I hated that question! I just wrote about anything and everything I could about it. I know I'll get marked wrong."

"But it's over now," Jade said, crashing into a chair across from Lily. Some second years were sitting near the fireplace playing exploding snap, so the two girls watched until James and Sirius came crashing into the common room.

"That's it!" Sirius screamed, his arm around James's shoulders in a brotherly fashion. "We are done."

"Done," James nodded in agreement with a huge grin. "Done: the act of completing mindless, busy work which is all around boring and useless. Done: the act of doing nothing for the rest of the week. Done: the act of-"

"We get it, James," Sirius said. "So where's Remus and Peter?" he asked the two.

"Remus is with Liz right now for some much needed solitary time. The last I saw of Peter was him making a doggy head with his left hand through the window at me," Jade answered.

"That was a dog?" Sirius asked. "I thought it looked more like a pig."

"No the pig was later, after the dog," James said.

"So I missed the dog hand?"

"You missed the dog hand," James snickered. "But I'm sure he'll do it again for you."

Lily smiled at James and winked at him. He stared back. Jade, sensing the vibrations, got up and grabbed Sirius by the wrist and dragged him away.

"So I was thinking," James said, going closer to Lily, "that maybe you could show me that thing."

"That thing?" she asked. "Oh, that thing!"

"Yes, you know, the thing."

"I think I can do that. I'll tell you what, let me go get my wand, and we'll go to an empty classroom and work magic."

"That sounds good to me. I'll go and get mine." And they were off with wands in hand. 

"If anyone asks where we are, tell them we're practicing our dueling," Lily said, taking James by one of his hands and leading him out.

"Right," Sirius said sarcastically. "Dueling. Sure, we'll tell them that. Be sure and have a good time."

James grinned back and let Lily lead him out. "So where is the best classroom for dueling practice?" Lily asked.

"Oh you know, wherever is fine with me."

"How about this one?" she said pointing to a rarely used room. He nodded, and they entered. Lily let go of his hand and walked to the other end with wand at the ready.

"Wait, we're really going to duel?" he asked.

"Of course. What did you think we were going to do, kiss?"

James looked up as if in thought then nodded. "Yeah. I saw the way you looked at me. That was the playful-Lily-look."

"Later, but I really want to duel with you to show you that thing."

"I can't do it. I've tried in class."

"Yeah, well try just a few times now that I've told you how to do it. It's very useful, you know."

"Fine. But afterwards we have to-"

"Yes, yes. Now, wands at the ready," she said. James danced around to get himself in the mood, then faced off. He bowed to her head nod then waited for the count.

"One," she said with a sexy smile that made him want to drop his wand and kiss her, "two...THREE!"

"Tartengrella!" James yelled. Lily crossed her arms and reversed the spell as she had done on the day of the dueling tournament. As a result, James was dancing all over the room causing Lily to burst out with laughter. "Fix me please!" 

She muttered the counter curse and tried to stop laughing. "Okay, we're going about this the wrong way. First off, I should just hit you and you should try to protect yourself."

"Secondly," James said, "maybe you should try bowing as is proper for a duel instead of that little head nod of yours."

"Oh please. Is my lack of bow the reason you lost?"

James stared at her. "It could be," he said. She laughed again. "Well, even Snape bowed. It's a symbol of respect, and you don't do it. Do you not respect me?"

Lily arched an eyebrow and smirked.

"That's funny," he said.

"Oh James, of course I respect you. I just don't like bowing, don't ask me why. Now, back to business. Try thinking of me for this charm-like-spell, because I think of you."

"Right, concentrate on you. Okay, let's have a go." Lily lunged forward and hit him with a spell, but he failed. He got up and tried again but couldn't put up any resemblance of a shield. Then again, and again...

"Alright, so maybe you can't do it," Lily said after the tenth time and James looked like a wreck. "Maybe we're going about this in the wrong way. The shield is essentially a charm. I'm good at charms, but you're better at Transfiguration. Let me have your wand and then you can try to transfigure something."

"Alright, but after this no more magic."

"Deal." James tossed her his wand, stuck his hand over a chair, and closed his eyes. At first nothing seemed to be happening, but then the chair gave a wobble and fell into a beautiful arrangement of flowers, which he presented to Lily. She smiled brightly and blushed; words failed her.

"I guess I did have it in me," he said shyly, handing them to her. She moved closer to him and whispered, "Let's end it on a high note, shall we?" 

"About bloody time if you ask me." She set the flowers down, leaned against him, and let her hands travel up his chest to the back of his neck He eased into her and met her lips. At first the kiss was soft, but it grew to be much more. Maybe it was the relieved stress, or that they hadn't had time in the past to be alone due to studying, but neither one of them had ever felt as good as they did at the moment. He pulled her closer to him, his hands on her back; she complied. He started moving down her jaw line then to her neck when she exhaled and grinned.

"We really shouldn't be doing this," she said, but didn't mean.

"Why's that?" he managed to whisper in her ear.

"I don't know, I was just it saying to be proper." Just then the door to the classroom burst open as Sirius glided in.

"AHA!" he yelled pointing at them, now very much apart. "I knew it!"

"You idiot!" James said. "Leave us the hell alone."

"Do you actually think I came in here to stop you two from steaming up the place?"

"With the way you entered...yeah!" James said.

"Oh ye of little faith. I just thought you ought to know that the teachers are going to use this room to discuss Graduation procedures. I just heard them and they're on the way down."

"No way," James said.

"Yeah. That is why I always choose the Astronomy tower. Why don't the two of you try it, eh?"

"You know, Sirius, James and I really did duel," she said as she picked up their forgotten wands and headed out the door.

"Sure you were, Lily."

"It's true. Look, James made these flowers for me out of the chair."

"I'm sure he did. All I know is, that they way you two were going at it, it's hard to believe you're both still dressed."

"Sirius!" Lily screamed, but James seemed to find it flattering. "You know well that we plan on refraining until the wedding day."

"Yeah, you plan on it."

"I am going to where a white dress with a veil, and it's going to mean something."

"No arguments here," Sirius continued with his dry tone.

  
  


As everyone expected, Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup. The final match against Hufflepuff was a resounding victory for Gryffindor with them leading Hufflepuff 300 to sixty. James was very happy with the result but saddened knowing that it was the last game he would play. He didn't cry at the end of the match, or when he was handed the trophy for the last time; he was happy with the knowledge that his talent wouldn't be wasted, but carried on-though Lily would never believe him.

Sirius pointed out that many Ministry and International departments would have their own teams, and James could play for pure recreation, which made him grin at the thought that he could beat his superiors in the future.

Final exam results came in after the match. James and Lily got the top marks, to no one's surprise, with Sirius in a very close second. Professor McGonnagal couldn't stop grinning at James and Sirius, mostly James, when she gave them the test results. They figured that at the end of the year, when they were finally leaving, she relaxed.

The Nastily Exhausting Wizardry Test scores followed the school exams. They were graded differently as they had different sections: Written and Practical. Of course they all did very well, so there's no need to elaborate further into very boring statistics. Only Remus feared that though he had gotten very good scores, they probably won't aid him much.

Lily passed some catering, decorating, and dress responsibilities onto Jade for the time being. Jade had to owl to prepare and report back to Lily with the on goings. She became very close with the Evans's in a short period of time. Liz helped somewhat, but not to the degree as Jade; Liz was very preoccupied with Remus.

The thing was, Liz didn't know about Remus and his condition. Lily had always kept that observation to herself and never breathed it to a soul. So as the full moon approached, and Remus's temper grew shorter, Liz was left in the dark. He always got a little grumpy with the coming of the full moon, but on top of his job rejections and the buckled stress of graduation, he was extremely agitated. She had tried asking him what the matter was, but he wouldn't give. He used the excuse that everyone has secrets that need not be told. Liz agreed quickly when she thought of her own.

James and Sirius sensed this tension and agreed to a day of fun preceeding the full moon. They started off with James's camera.

"Okay," Sirius said as Remus held the camera for the first time since the unsuccessful recovery of the Marauders' Map. "This is the sixteenth of June, four days before we leave this school forever. We have decided to commit this place to memory and film, with Remus Lupin behind the camera and the rest of us exploring." Sirius grinned into the lens; Remus laughed. They started with Gryffindor Tower, talking to different students and making them laugh. "Good Luck!" so many of them said, and "Have a great life!" were more of the others. But the true fun didn't begin until they caught the staff on film. Professor Sprout, who had dirt on her nose, smiled eagerly into the camera and talked about missing them and their antics. "I'll always remember you four," she said with a hearty laugh.

With reluctance, they hunted down Professor Wicks, who was surprisingly compliant with their foray into film. He told them to work on potions and always remember, "Never mix sugar with wolfsbane."

They all ran to Professor Gellar's class laughing like giddy school boys, which they were. She turned out to be quite camera shy, but that didn't stop Sirius from getting her to say a few words. "Defense against the Dark Arts is the most important of all your lessons. Um...America will always be better at Quidditch," she said with a smirk.

"You wish," James said.

"Chasers are the most important," she continued.

"Here, here!" James yelled.

"And the four of you were my favorite seventh years," she said with a bright smile. Sirius chuckled.

"You probably say that to all of your students," he said bashfully.

"Naw, just you guys. I'm really going to miss you."

"Can I kiss you? On the cheek?" he asked hesitantly, as though he'd been thinking about it for many months.

"I can't kiss you as a student. But I will after the twentieth, how about that?"

Sirius nodded and grinned. "Deal."

They even decided to capture Trelawny who told them all to heed their employers; duh.

Professor McGonnagal cried when they entered her office. She hugged James first, then Sirius, muttering through her sobs about them being so clever yet annoying in class, apparently an endearing quality for her. 

"You two take care of each other out there," she said to James and Sirius. "Try not to get into too much trouble. And promise that you'll come and visit me," she said wobbling.

"We will, Professor," James assured her. Then Sirius was struck with a sudden idea.

"Professor, could you do me a very big favor?" he asked as he pulled something out of his pocket.

"What is that?" she asked, ceasing to sob as she studied his face.

"Well, I would really like it if you would wear my sunglasses so we could capture it on film." He handed them to her, which she took cautiously. "They're safe, I assure you." She looked at the four of them sternly, then slowly took off her square spectacles and replaced them with Sirius's shades. 

James had to stifle a snort of laughter. Seeing strict Professor McGonnagal wearing sunglasses was far too much. She had suddenly lost all credibility. She gave them a half smile then took them off, but it was caught on film and would therefore be seen by others.

Then it was Dumbledore's turn. He asked to wear the glasses and he even did a small dance, which was very corny, but anything Albus Dumbledore did was very cool. "How's that speech going, James?" he asked, still wearing the glasses.

"Oh, great," he lied.

"You haven't started it have you?" he asked with a wry grin.

"Not a bloody word," James admitted and laughed. They left his office, feeling as though they had accomplished a great deal by interviewing all of their teachers. 

Jade jumped at the chance to make a funny remark on film. She began by breathing on to the lens, fogging it up, and flaring her nostrils.

"What talent," Remus commented as she did this.

"I know," she said lightly. "But I want to be remembered."

"Oh you will be. You film very well, Jade."

"Why thank you," she said batting her lashes playfully and flipping her hair. She pulled Lily into view and made her show her ring, which Lily was only too happy to do.

"Awwww," Sirius and Remus said together as Lily showed it. "So where is this man you're marrying?"

"He's right next to you," she said as James strode up next to her. "Here he is. Isn't he adorable?"

"So kiss already. Do it for the audience," Remus said. Jade, Liz, Peter, and Sirius chanted for them to do it, so they finally gave in. Lily smiled brightly as she jumped into his arms so she was level with his face. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and grinned back at her. Then they kissed, or maybe smooched would be a more appropriate term. It was a very touching thing to witness, two people so madly in love with one another. All of them felt happy but also a tad jealous at the sight of James and Lily. Very rarely were you ever lucky enough to see soul mates. "Now say it so we all know."

James smiled cheekily at the camera then back at Lily. "I can't believe I call these people my friends."

"Me neither."

"Yeah, yeah," Remus said zooming in on their faces. "Just go."

"I love you," Lily said first, blushing as she leaned her forehead against James's.

"I love you back," he said smiling. They kissed again, this time more deeply.

"Awwwww," the rest of them said as they looked on. "Aren't you both so cute?" Sirius remarked. James and Lily stared into each other's eyes for several minutes, long after Remus turned off the camera, long after Jade took Sirius by the hand, and long after Peter skipped off to the owlry to write to his mother. They didn't talk, didn't kiss, didn't do anything but gaze into each other's souls.

  
  


When night fell, so did the happiness. There is truth to every philosopher's wise sayings, but at the time none were as true as "all good things must come to an end." But this one came from behind.

It was Sirius's idea to take some butterbeer and reminisce about the good times the four of them had together. They decided that the common room wasn't the most private, so they should hold it in the proverbial clubhouse: the Shrieking Shack. Remus would turn wild two days before Graduation, so what better night than tonight.

Under James's Invisibility cloak, eyewitness to so much crime, the four of them tripped and stumbled out into the night and into the living room of the shack. They each crashed into a ripped chair and knocked back a few drinks to loosen themselves up.

"I remember," James began, pointing at Sirius, "when you hexed Bertha Jorkins."

Sirius chuckled.

"Why, again, did you do that, Sirius?" Remus asked.

"She was nagging me."

"'Bout what?"

"Well, turned out that she had seen me kissing Florence. I thought I was well hidden behind the greenhouses, but she saw us. You know how Bertha was, she was going to spread it around if I didn't stop her. She said she'd tell Florence's ex-boyfriend, the very large Beater for Ravenclaw. So I hexed her." He took a large gulp of butterbeer as Remus laughed.

"You hexed her? Weren't you in detention for about a week?"

"Yeah. Dumbledore was harsh. Oh well."

"What about the time the two of you laced stink bombs in Snape's shoes?" Remus said. James cracked with the giggles as did Sirius and Peter.

"Every time he stepped...RIP!" James cried. "That was good. And the best part was that the stench stayed with him for three days."

"I say we do it again," Sirius said. "Just because we can."

"No. You can never do the same thing twice. It takes away authenticity," James said.

"True," they agreed.

"God," Sirius started, "remember when Peter grew a tail and panicked and couldn't get the rest to change."

They laughed some more. "We had to walk so close behind him the teachers all looked funny at us."

"Took us three days to get him back to normal."

"We could have all been toast."

This continued for about thirty minutes. Talk of their transformation woes, like the time "Sirius barked instead of coughed," or when "James kept using the wall to scratch the top of his head," and we can never forget the time when "Peter grew whiskers in the middle of Astronomy. Luckily it was dark, but he squeaked with every whisker plucked." They laughed themselves hoarse until...

"Remember when Sirius tried to kill Snape by telling him how to get into the Willow when Moony was here?" Peter said, laughing. But he was the only one. Remus dropped his bottle. It shattered as it hit the floor. He looked quickly to Sirius, who opened his mouth to try to explain, but Remus beat him to it.

"That was you who sent him down here? I thought it was an accident. I thought he figured it out for himself. But it was you the whole time?" James stared, not knowing what to do.

James knew the truth. He knew what Sirius had planned and he didn't agree, but he understood why it was done. Snape was planning on poisoning Lily with a love potion, as childish as it sounded, he was going to do it. Snape had found the potion in the restricted section of the library and was concocting it. Remus and Liz found out about it, told Sirius and went from there. Remus and Sirius hadn't said anything to James and they weren't planning to, but Peter let it slip that Sirius had told Snape how to get into the willow, and James stopped him. James was furious with Sirius when he found out, and even angrier when he learned why Sirius did it. The fact of the matter was, Remus was never told that Sirius planned it. They let it all gloss over, thinking it was best to move on and forget about it.

"Now, Remus wait. You have to understand-"

"You used me. You were going to use me to kill someone!"

"You know what Snape was planning on doing, Remus. You knew, you were the one who told me. Peter and I saw him buying the ingredients for that potion. If we didn't do something-"

"We? It was you, Sirius. You were going to take advantage of my disability to kill Snape. You were going to let me kill Snape, instead of you. You were going to let me take the fall for your planning?" He was now standing, fists clenched, teeth gritted.

"Look, if he wasn't stopped he would have poisoned her. He would have taken her free will and destroyed James at the same time."

"So why didn't you stop him, Sirius? Huh? Why? Why didn't you snuff him out? Why were you going to let me kill him for you? If you were fine with this, why didn't you tell me that day? Why keep me in the dark for over a year!"

Now Sirius was starting to lose control. James and Peter remained silent.

"You listen to me," Sirius said. "It was a good plan. Snape would have come to the Willow, seen you and you-"

"Would have killed him, making everything better, is that right? You would let me be a murderer. Hell, it's just Remus, what does he have? He'll go nowhere with his disease. He won't get married, won't have a family, and God knows he'll never get a job and will probably starve to death, or die of humiliation. So who cares if he kills one man, even if he is scum. They'll only send him up to Azkaban, or someone will slaughter him in the streets because he's just a damned werewolf, an animal. I'm Sirius Black, prefect of Hogwarts, Quidditch cup winner, and handsome ladies man. I have tons to live for. Let Remus, the loser and lost cause, kill Severus Snape. He won't mind!"

"Remus, I was trying to protect James, I didn't want to-" but Remus stopped him again.

"James. It's always James, isn't Sirius? It always has been. He's all you care about at this school, in this world. You've never been anyone else's friend. Certainly not mine, certainly not Peter's. Only James's. Well that's fine, but why go around laughing it up with others? I appreciate your constant watch over him, but he can take care of himself. Why didn't you tell him what Snape was planning? Oh, wait, he would have killed him. If Remus does it, it'll just be an accident. No one will suspect foul play."

"You know that's not true, Remus. I was only trying to help. You know, damn it, what that asshole was planning. Someone had to stop him!" Sirius yelled, his face going red.

"We've discussed that. You were going to let me do it for you. You'd hate it if your brother went to prison, wouldn't you? So let Remus go. You can live without him, but not James. And was he happy about it, Sirius? Was he proud of what you had done for him? I almost killed him, you know. To think that the two of you are so close, but so different in moral standing. He sees Snape going to the Willow, at least that's what I assume happened, tries to stop him, pulls him out of harms way and kicks me back into this room. He risked his life for someone whom he hated, who was trying to steal the most important thing to him. He saved him, the same person you worked so hard to kill. What did he think of your 'valiant' actions?"

Sirius tore his burning eyes from Remus and looked down at James, who still sat in silence but looked up at him. James had been upset with him. He didn't want Snape to be killed. Oh sure, he was angry when he found out what Snape was going to do, furious even, but killing him was out of the question. James, of course, thought it, threatened it to Snape, but Sirius told him not to kill Snape when James set out looking for him. But James knew, as well as Sirius did, that he didn't have it in him to kill someone. James could have talked all day about murder, but never go through with it. Snape knew, however, that James would do something drastic if Lily was taken, stolen, from him. The fact that James had taken it into his own hands and not gone to Dumbledore proved that he had the guts to do whatever necessary. Snape took heed.

"Well, Sirius? He was enraged with you, wasn't he? I can here it now, 'How could you kill a man, Sirius?' Is that what he said to you?"

Sirius remained silent but stared back at Remus. The room was still, and the wind didn't seem to blow outside. James didn't know whether to intervene or let them handle it. After minutes of everyone staring at everyone else, Remus spoke again. He was relaxed but by no means finished with his rage. It was spooky how calm he was. James always thought it was worse when his mother had whispered at him instead of yelled. It always sent a shiver up his spine, as Remus now did.

"I always envied you, Sirius. Always wondered what it would be like to be you. I admit it, I was jealous. What was it like to be, not only a normal human being, but beloved by so many, including myself. Three entire houses love you. You're smart, funny, easy to be around...got so much attention. What must it be like? God I wanted so much to be like you. But now I see how you really are. All that talent, that normalcy, has turned you into this: a selfish, arrogant man. Granted you love James, no doubt about that. You'd do anything for him, but no one else.

"You know what I have? Nothing. I have nothing. Since we all decided to be honest with each other, let's share out life plans, shall we? My parents are getting a divorce now that I'm a legal wizard. They're divorcing because of me. I was the one who caused them to fall apart. They can't even be in the same room without ripping each other for what happened to me.

"My future holds nothing. No one will hire me simply because they fear me, as you must. I have all the qualifications to do well, but I can't get anywhere because of what I am. Elizabeth, let's talk about her. She wants me to tell her everything. How do you tell someone that once a month you're a monster? How can you expect them to stay with you? I'll have to eventually. I'll tell her the truth. I know her well enough to say that she won't leave me right away, but gradually. And I don't blame her for it. After all, who wants to live with me? Who could stomach the thought of going to bed with a werewolf?"

Sirius stared at him, his face blank. "Remus I'm sor-"

"Yeah, everyone's sorry. I'm sorry for what I am. I'm sorry for who you turned out to be. I'm sorry you have no moral judgement for right and wrong because at least I know that. I'm sorry that you, who apparently have no conscience, got all the goods while I got stuck with nothing. I'm sorry I thought you were my friend with whom I could trust. And I'm sorry for Jade, who actually seems to like you. But most of all, I'm sorry for your parents, who think so highly of such a bastard they raised. I wonder if they would approve of the filth you are today. At least James, your confidant, didn't get mixed up in all your splendor." Remus gave him one last stare and headed out of the shack. 

Sirius stood in the middle of the room, hardly blinking. James finally got up. He looked at Sirius and wanted to say something, but thought of nothing to say. He patted his shoulder instead and headed after Remus.

He was walking down the tunnel, James caught up with him. They stared at each other.

"I know this is a lot," James started, "and I know what he did was wrong. But I've gotta tell you, even I was thankful for what he did for me. I thanked him, Remus. I'm not justifying it, but I..."

"You just don't know how to be a coward, do you James?" Remus said. "After all of that, after I nearly took his head off, you come down here apologizing for him, telling me the truth about your feelings on the matter, apologizing for it, being honest. You just can't be cowardly, can you? You're not the one at fault. I know you didn't know about it in advance, and you didn't know that he kept me in the dark. I saw in the corner of my eye, that look on your face."

"It was wrong and stupid and so many other things, but..." he didn't know how to finish. Remus smiled sadly at him.

"I never thanked you," he said as if he'd forgotten a book a home.

"For what?" James asked confused.

"Saving me."

"Saving you? I never did that," he said shaking his head.

Remus surprised himself with a chuckle. "Sure you did. You cleaned up after Sirius, for the first time. He was off enjoying the girls' attention in Hogsmeade, and you came charging down to move me out of the way."

"What are you talking about?"

"The arrow. I was going to attack Hagrid. You came down, full speed, nearly gored me, and took the hit. I know it was silver tipped. If you hadn't moved me, I would be dead. It's thanks to you that I'm here now. So that's two lives, James."

"I was trying to stop you from getting to Hagrid. I didn't know he had the crossbow."

"Doesn't matter. Either way you would have been the hero. And you knew about the crossbow; I can see it in your eyes. Anyway, thanks. I shudder to think what would have happened then, if you had looked elsewhere, and with Snape." 

James gazed at him and felt so desperate inside to do something, but he could think of nothing. "Remus, Sirius is my friend."

"I know. You guys have always been your own entity. You're the only person he cares about."

"That's not true."

"Well, maybe not. But I saw the panic when you finally got with Lily. It was discreet, but he was still panicked that he would lose you. He got scared when you proposed to her, right? Granted he's happy for you, but he knows that after September eighth, the 'James and Sirius' era will end. Eighteen years of that era, gone with 'I do.' It'll be interesting to see how he does."

"That's because we've been best friends since before we could walk. Look, I don't want this tension to go on forever. You're my friend too."

"And you want everyone to be happy and get along."

"Well...yeah I guess."

"He used me, James. He used me to commit murder. I don't know that I'll ever patch it up with him. I'll always be around for you, not that you'll ever need help. I wish I had your nobility, your strength, and your courage. I will always help you, or Lily if you want it or need it. Always."

James looked at him with concern. He opened his mouth several times but couldn't think of what to say.

"You don't have to respond to it," Remus said. "I'm going to the Tower. I need to try and sleep. I'll see you around, James." With that he turned and left.

James watched him go then turned back for the shack. Sirius was still standing in the middle of the room as if petrified. Peter looked a shambles in the chair.

"Sirius," James said quietly, "are you okay?"

Sirius didn't speak. 

"Look, let's all go back to the tower and get some rest," he said motioning for the door.

"No," Sirius mumbled.

"Why not?"

"I just don't want to."

"Come on. We'll talk about it in the morning." But Sirius had gone into automatic shut down. James had seen if few times and could easily recognize it. Sirius would literally shut himself inside and not talk to anyone when he would get into a fight. James remembered a time when Sirius had a huge fight with Mr. Black, and Sirius felt terrible about it. He didn't talk for days. "Sirius," James tried again, but it was in vain. Sirius walked out of the room by himself, not looking back, not looking sad or angry, just emotionless.

James crashed into his chair and rubbed his temples with his fists.

"I'm sorry I didn't keep my mouth shut," Peter said.

"It's really not your fault."

"Yeah it is. If I hadn't have said that, they wouldn't be fighting. I'm sorry, James."

He smiled at Peter then started to leave. Peter got up and scrambled after him.

* * * * * 

It looked like the end of Sirius and Remus being friends. Remus avoided him whenever possible, glaring at him as he took absence. James felt like he was in the middle of it all. He wanted them to resolve it and put it behind them, but Remus had an awfully good point. James had to agree on many of the finer points. While Sirius had planned the murder, done it for him, not letting Lupin know about it was pushing the envelope. Murder was pushing the envelope, actually. 

Sirius tried wearing a mask to hide his despair, but it was sensed. 

"Hey, let's go...turn Snape into a toad for old time's sake," James said with a smile to Sirius.

"Do you think he was right about me?" he asked. 

"Well," James started, running his hand nervously through his hair. "Hindsight is 20/20, Sirius. Yeah, it was wrong what you did, and it always will be. Nothing will ever make it right. At the time, however...I was angry with you, then Snape. I even threatened to kill him. But the fact remains that you set Snape up for Remus to kill, without telling him. Being a werewolf has really messed up his life, to say the very least."

Sirius let his head fall on the table. "What am I going to do?" he asked.

"Search me," James said.

Lily came up to the two of them and sat down. She had an ink mark around her mouth, and her hair was up in an untidy bun.

"What happened to you?" James asked.

"Speech happened. I've been working on it nonstop, and I don't even think I like it. Have any ideas?"

"None."

"Haven't you started yours?"

"Nope."

"James, you have to have a speech before the twentieth."

"Yeah. I was thinking about winging it."

"Winging it?"

"Right. I'm a very glib individual."

"Is that so?" she asked.

"Yep."

Lily laughed as she shook her head. "I don't think winging it will be such a good idea."

"Why not? The class knows me, and the staff knows me. It's just a speech. No one will care," he said lightly. Sirius pulled his head up and examined James's features.

"Go write your damn speech," he said. James looked at him funnily. "Yeah, you heard me. Get off your sorry ass, and go write that speech. You have tons of stuff to say so go and say it."

"Sirius is right, you know. The entire class is looking to you to start this thing with a bang."

James sighed, and set off for a quill and parchment. 

"That was insensitive of us," Lily said.

"No it wasn't. James doesn't like all that mush stuff."

"Do you think he'll be okay?"

"I have no idea. This is the big event, you know."

"I'm afraid so. Gosh, I just wish he had some relatives that could come. Everyone else has somebody, but he has no one of his own."

"I think he'll live through it. He's strong." James came back with a quill and parchment. He sat down, dipped, and stared at the blank sheet in front of him.

"I got nothing. I don't know how these things go. What do you have?" 

"Well," she said, "the usual, I guess. I've never been to a wizard graduation ceremony, so I don't know how the speeches should be."

"Me neither. Do I talk about the class, the year, the seven years? Do I mention myself, others, the professors? Forget it, I can't concentrate."

He dropped his quill and looked across the table at her.

"So, not that I want to pressure you, but how many guys are standing up with you?"

He shrugged.

"I have to have an even number. Sirius will be up there, as well as Remus I assume. What about Peter?"

Sirius got up and walked out of the room. James took her hands from across the table.

"What's up?" she asked, as her eyes followed Sirius out of the common room.

"Remus and Sirius had a little rift last night."

"Oh my goodness," she said. "What happened?"

"It's kinda between them and me. I don't think it's appropriate for me to tell you right now. Needless to say, I don't know how long they're going to be like this. So you're just having Jade and Liz with you, right?"

"Yes. But if you're going to have Peter up there as well, then I have to find another girl."

"Where is it written that it has to be an even number?"

Lily wrinkled her nose and smirked, "I have no idea."

"Is it illegal to be uneven and original?"

"I don't think so," she said.

"Besides, no one ever looks and says, 'Hey Merle, there are more men than women up there!' They'll be looking at us. That's going to be so weird," he said smiling.

"What is?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter. A new era."

"You make it sound like a fragrance," she said. "And don't you want to change your last name to Evans? I think James Evans sounds better than Lily Potter."

He rolled his eyes. "Don't get all women's liberation on me. It kills romance."

She giggled. "No, I'll change my last name of course. I won't be called first for role, or get first dibs on the grades, but I can live with that."

"Excellent. So just give me a hint about your speech," he said pulling her hands forward and looking desperately at her.

She shook her head, pulled her hands from his, took her speech and ran. James followed.

  
  


After one night of prowling alone with Moony in the forest, James still had nothing to say in his speech. He figured that maybe time would give him some answers, but so far it was just leaving him less time. Remus gave him a few suggestions, but James didn't really know how to word them. Only he and Remus set out into the night of the full moon. Sirius wasn't even invited to go along. They stayed close to the castle, but at a safe distance. It wasn't exactly the most fun, but it was better for Moony's mind to be out and about rather than being locked up in the Shrieking Shack alone.

James slept for half of the next day thinking of nothing but his speech, which he would have to give in front of his class and their families. What did it matter if it wasn't the greatest? He was never one of those great writers or prophetic speakers. Besides, his family had been gone for over a year now.

"They would have liked to see me graduate," he mumbled to his pillow. He could see his mother crying as Byron would have been giving him a thumbs up. Neither one of them would be able to talk. It wasn't fair, he thought. Why were they missing this? Why couldn't they be here and watch him give a speech to the class? Why couldn't they see him get married? Why couldn't they ever be grandparents?

Because it was their time, another voice said. 

James eventually thought of his speech, mostly when he was sleeping and not accessible to a pad of parchment and quill. He got it together on the twentieth and rehearsed it a few times before Peter came rambling in with his graduation robes backwards asking for James's help.

The graduation robes were slightly different from their normal ones. They were black silk, with the Hogwarts crest on the left side instead of the Gryffindor one. The boys had to wear a nice suit underneath so that the tie would show. The girls had to where either black or dark gray skirts and a white blouse with a sweater vest, much like normally. James, who was graduating at the top of the class, had a gold sash with blue trim which he would wear around his shoulders, draping down his front. His Head Boy badge was pinned neatly to his chest where it was clearly visible.

He helped Peter get situated as he said his speech to him.

"So what do you think?" he asked.

"Not as good as Lily's, but it's still good."

"She read hers to you?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I can't tell you about it. She thinks you might take her ideas."

"Why would that matter, she's going first. I'll just be glad when it's all over. Did you lay out your dress robes for the Ball?"

"Yeah. But I'm not sure that I want to go. No girls will dance with me."

"How do you know that?" he asked with a smile.

"I can see, James. I know what I look like."

"And what's that?"

"Short, squat, and ugly."

James chuckled. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

"I hope the beholder has blurry vision," he said and made James laugh. He checked himself in the mirror one more time, tried flattening his hair, then walked down to the common room to see thirty-four classmates, all dressed the same way, but without the sash. Lily was standing alone in a corner with her eyes shut tightly, mouthing soundless words. He started towards her.

"Well look at how slick you look," Sirius said with a grin. He had finally shook the shut down phase of his fight and started to come back, though completely ignored by Remus. Sirius was dressed in the same fashion, minus the badge and blue trim from the sash. 

"Don't flatter me. But you look good too. So this is the last time we're in this room as seventh years. The next time we come in here we're just simple wizards who have completed education."

"I'm really going to miss this place."

"Me too. I'm going to say hello to Lily." He walked off and stood in front of Lily for three minutes before she noticed him.

"You'll do fine," he told her, but she was still nervous.

"I hope so. I have this horrible vision of tripping on my robes as I walk up to the podium."

"If you trip, raise your hands in triumph as if you meant to do it," he said, taking her hands.

"So this is it."

"This is it."

"You look very handsome," she said with a grin.

"And you've never looked lovelier. Well maybe, but I just can't remember."

"I still don't get how you're the top of the class. You hardly ever studied."

James squirmed and made a funny motion with his lips. "That's not entirely accurate," he whispered.

"What do you mean?" she asked pulling him closer.

"Well, Sirius and I studied after everyone went to bed. I know it's stupid, but we had to keep our brilliant and fun loving reputations."

Lily looked both delighted and shocked.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, but don't tell anyone."

"You're not just saying that to make me feel better for being number two?"

"No, I'm not. Besides being first means that if I fall on my way up to get the diploma, everyone will laugh. But if you do it after me, it'll have lost all its humor." She smiled. The portrait door opened as Professor McGonnagal walked in. She looked like a woman on a mission.

"Could I have your attention please?" she asked. Everyone stopped talking.

"I need for you all to be in order. Prefects go first, then alphabetically, thank you." She saw to it that Sirius was first in line, Jade following, then the A's, B's, and so forth. "And there you two are," she said proudly as she walked over to Lily and James. She took a spray can out of her cloak and went for James's hair. But it was pointless; it still stood on end. "You both look so wonderful," she said with tears in her eyes. "Gryffindor leads the class. I'm so proud of you two." She adjusted James's tie, straightened his sash, and led the two of them out of the common room, leaving Sirius in charge of the rest of the class.

McGonnagal took them into the entrance hall. "Now, the families are down in the Quidditch Pitch. You two wait here and make sure everyone gets where they're supposed to be. I'll be back to get you when we're ready." She hurried out of the room and headed down to the field. 

Soon they were joined by Ravenclaw. The prefects stood with Lily and James and watched as the class negotiated with their standing assignments. Soon the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Slytherins joined them. They all got in alphabetical order as they had rehearsed for a few days. Then the prefects arranged themselves by academic standing. Professor McGonnagal came back and told them all some last minute tidbits, put James and Lily in front of the line, then took them down to the pitch. 

There were tall stadium seats moved onto the center of field facing away from the soon to be setting sun. The chairs the graduates would be sitting in were facing the same way towards the stage. They all sat down as a class and watched as Albus Dumbledore took the stage.

He walked up to the podium and called for silence. "Welcome to the graduation of the class of 1978. As you all know, after these young wizards graduate, they will be fully fledged legal wizards capable of Apparation and Animagus transformation," James and Sirius smirked at each other, "and begin their future. The class of seventy-eight is the very first class I have seen sorted and graduated. I was made Headmaster when these fine students were only just eleven. I have come to know many of them over the years, but nearly all of them have made me proud. There isn't a student here who isn't talented in one way or another, yet they are all very unique. Since as human beings we all have a very short attention span, I will leave you good people all alone and announce the classes first speaker and Head Girl of Hogwarts, Miss Lily Evans." 

There was applause. Lily closed her eyes, took a deep breath, squeezed James's hand, and walked to the podium.

'Damn there's a bunch of people,' she thought as she looked out onto the parents and her own class. She smiled at them all, many of who smiled back, then began.

"Magic. To me it has meant so many things over the years. When I was very young, it was only found in fairy tales when the brave knight would slay the evil dragon to save the princess. When I was ten, it was the slight of hand and the pulling of a white rabbit out of a hat. But the day the owl brought my Hogwarts letter, magic was no longer an illusion or a subject in fiction, but my future.

"Of all the emotions I felt when I was passing through Platform Nine and Three Quarters for the first time, apprehension and fear were dominant. I didn't know anything of this enchanting world which so many of you already knew. A mystical castle, owl post, and a magic wand were as foreign to me as a distant planet. But the tension left me as I clambered onto that train and began the now familiar journey to this wonderful place. I thought I wouldn't make friends with magical girls and boys, or that I would even fit in. Surely no one would want me because I was of non-magic heritage, and I had no clue about anything. But I was wrong.

"The very first day here, the day we all timidly walked to the Sorting Hat, I met so many great friends, friends I will have forever. As I look out into the crowd of silk cloaks, not only do I see friendly faces, but stories and memories. I remember the first feather we lifted when were eleven, the screaming mandrakes when we were twelve and none of us will ever forget the day Professor Chambers let a hinkypunk loose when we were thirteen. I'll never forget the time we shared together in this golden era we simply call school. To me it was more than an education but a teaching in life. Not all of our time here was happy, but it was memorable. I believe that all of us have grown to be the best people we know how to be. I've talked to all of you at some point or another, and we're all so different, but together we make a wonderful class.

"So now we go on. On to become butchers, or bakers or candlestick makers. (Laughter) Some of us will be Professors, great Ministry officials, politicians, inventors, doctors, and world saviors. We'll come back in ten years and laugh about the time Headmaster Dumbledore sang karaoke in our fourth year. We'll reminisce and smile when we think of that morning in fifth year when unnamed sources had turned all the owls green." She smiled down at Sirius and James. "No one will forget the losses we suffered in year six, or the drama we witnessed in year seven. But now all of that is past, and we have only the future to look forward to and ponder. After tonight, many of us will go our separate ways, but many of us will stay together." Lily looked down at the podium and started to cry. She knew she would, but she was hoping that maybe she could save it until later.

"I will always miss the time I spent here," she got out. Her vision was now blurry as she looked at her friends. "These are truly the golden years of our lives; when we were protected from the evils which haunt the world. I will miss..." she wiped away her tears, "my great Professors, especially you, Professor McGonnagal, who told me when I did well, and never hesitated to tell me when I'd wronged. I'll miss you, Professor Flitwick, for your friendly gestures and teaching my favorite class. And I'll miss you, Headmaster Dumbledore, for your wisdom, kindness, and your ability to make me smile when I just wanted to sulk." Her face was red now, her eyes bloodshot as she came to her last sentences.

"Thank you Hogwarts for allowing me to be not only a student but a member of a great family. Thank you, my fellow classmates of the great year of seventy-eight, for accepting me into your world. 

"I hope all of you meet success in your lives. I hope you all find happiness. I hope you all rise to the challenges that will certainly meet you, and I hope all of you find love. Congratulations to all of us, the class of nineteen seventy-eight!" Everyone applauded grandly for her. She smiled a teary smile as she nodded to them, barely able to keep the salty tears from pouring down her face. Dumbledore helped her to her chair next to James then went back up to the podium.

James kissed her lightly on the cheek and whispered into her ear, "That was so beautiful." Dumbledore waited until the applause died to speak. "Miss Evans, you forgot to mention that not only did I sing to you and your classmates, but I also did a matching dance," he said warmly, smiling back at her. The class and audience laughed. "And now we'll hear from our Head Boy, James Potter." Lily squeezed his hand then let him go. He walked up to the podium and smiled.

"Needless to say, my speech won't be nearly as good, so please bear with me. I promise I'll try to keep it short and sweet." Mild laughter swept through. He collected his thoughts as he looked down into the class then took a deep breath. "It took me a while to find the right words to say to all of you, and I'm not sure that I have. 

"I, like many of you, knew I would be attending Hogwarts since I was just a loud and troublesome toddler. I was told many stories about school, stories that were repeated over and over and over again to the point I was sick of them. I was told and taught many things, but I fear I only heeded to one: 'Your time at Hogwarts will be the best. Live every moment there as if it was your last.' I believe I have, and unfortunately some of you were victim to that." The class laughed, James grinned. 

"My father once told me to live life with no regrets. It's hard to live up to. In my seven years here, I can recall many stupid things that I did because I thought it was funny, or cool, or impressive. We all have our regrets. We've all done something dumb at one time or another. We've all made decisions out of passion rather than logic, and at times the consequences were huge. We're young, inexperienced, and brash, but that doesn't mean we always will be.

"Hogwarts is just one chapter in our lives. Granted it was seven years long, but it was still a chapter. I can safely say that I won't miss Filch's temper, the destruction caused by the oh so animated Peeves the Poltergeist, or the inaccurate visions of the future Professor Trelawny would give us, and I note she's not here. She's probably up in her tower right now searching her foggy crystal ball with her 'Inner eye.'" The class really liked that one. "Yet there is something to it all. Hogwarts would be a very bland place without Filch's cat, Peeves, or any fortune teller. 

"Can you imagine being here without house rivalries? Without school enemies? I don't think I want to. It added character to our years here. Nothing was more thrilling than playing Quidditch against each other, or even watching in the stands. Nothing is more irritating than a verbal volley with someone you detest. But each experience tells you, whether it be fun, miserable, or regretful, that we're alive. No one ever said life was fair or perfect. We need to experience the bad to appreciate the good. Perhaps that is why pure evil infiltrates our world; we need it to look for greatness, heroism, teamwork, and hope." He paused for effect. 

"I don't know if I made a difference here, or left a mark. I know that this class, we, will always be the best class to walk this stage," he smiled as he looked upon the other nodding faces. "The future holds endless possibilities for us. But I'll always remember this chapter of my life, and the time I spent with all of you. I know I have enemies out there, you know who you are, but it prepared you and me for the challenges that are yet to come. It can't be easy out there in the real world. I don't know it from experience of course, but from the gray hair so many people in the audience adorn." There was some playful booing but mostly laughter from the families.

"As this chapter finally closes, a new one opens. The first pages may not begin with once upon a time, or end with happily ever after, but all of us shared one part of our book with each other, and I am forever thankful. I would like to personally thank a few people," he said going for a scroll in his robe pocket. He took it out, united the ribbon, and let the end fall down to the floor. "Just kidding, it's blank," he said showing it to them. "We finally made it to the end. Congratulations to the best class Hogwarts has seen!" James got a very healthy applause. He grinned at them then sat back down next to Lily who was simply beaming.

"I liked the book theme," she said.

"Yeah, well I was trying to be metaphorical."

"You just couldn't resist one last joke, could you?"

"Never," he took her hand and watched Professor McGonnagal and Dumbledore take the stage with a golden chest that held their diplomas. They each spoke of how proud they were then explained that the prefects would graduate first based on academic standing, and the rest of the class would follow alphabetically.

"James Byron Potter" was called up first. He shook Dumbledore's hand, took the Diploma from Professor McGonnagal, and walked back to his seat. He couldn't help but look into the audience for his mother and father, though he knew they weren't there. He felt somewhat empty inside as he looked at all the other families. He could see Mr. and Mrs. Black waving at him, he smiled back, but it wasn't the same. He wanted the thumbs up from his father and the tearful grin from his mother. But he wouldn't get it, ever again.

He stood over his seat and waited until his entire row had gotten their diploma. Lily followed right behind him. She turned to wave at her parents, and tugged on James to give him a needed smile.

"They're here, you know. They're watching you and smiling down on you. And I think it's safe to say they're proud."

"Killer speech, James," Sirius said to him.

"Lily's was better," James said.

"Yeah, but she's an over achiever so it doesn't actually count. Ouch!" he said. "Lily no pinching, you know it's true. But yeah, James I really liked yours. I'm glad you didn't wing it."

"It was very good, James. You didn't look nervous. I was terrified, weren't you?"

"Not so much. I'm glad I didn't cry though. Gosh how embarrassing would that have been," he teased. She lightly slapped his shoulder then linked her arm through his.

The ceremony wasn't very long, as there were only one hundred and forty three seventh years. Dumbledore made the class turn around to present them as the graduated class of 1978 so the families could cry some more. After that, they were dismissed and lots of hugging and hand shaking took place.

Soon Lily was swallowed by the arms of her very proud mother and father.

"Congratulations Princess," they both said. Mrs. Evans gave James a very tight hug and rather wet kiss on his cheek, followed by the "You're so adorable," phrase she reserved just for him. Then they traded; Mrs. Evans took Lily and Mr. Evans shook James's hand vigorously and slapped his shoulder a good few times.

"You did good, kid," he said proudly. "Congratulations. Top of the class, you even beat my little girl. Well at least the talent won't be wasted." He grabbed James by the wrist and waved a finger at him. "I expect very smart grandchildren from you, James, very smart."

"I'll try my best." He laughed then went back to Lily.

Then the Blacks came bustling over. Sirius was looking unhappy with his mother's lipstick on his cheeks, but James found it quite funny. The Evans's and the Blacks seemed fascinated with each other and took to talking. James, Sirius, and Lily found content in simply watching them interact.

"So at last I get to meet Lily's mother and father," Dumbledore said as he came up to them. "You did good with her," he said to them. Lily blushed. "Why don't we all head to the Great Hall for the feast," he said as he herded them up to the castle.

The feast was as good as it ever was. Mr. and Mrs. Evans were delighted to finally see the castle. They had charms preformed on them so they could see everything, in case you were wondering. After dinner, Lily showed them everything, including every classroom she had been taught in, Gryffindor tower, and to Mrs. Evans's great delight, Myrtle's bathroom.

When the guided tour was over, Dumbledore encouraged the parents and other relatives to join him in the east wing of the castle, while the graduates attend the ball in the Great Hall.

Remus turned down the invite to go. He said he didn't feel much like dancing. 

The boys changed very quickly into their dress robes. James had black ones for lack of fashion flair, Sirius wore attractive midnight blue ones, while Peter wore...

"Brown?"

"My mum picked them out for me. Do I look stupid?" he asked

"No," James said.

"A little bit," Sirius said snickering. "Ow!" he yelled as James's elbow slipped into his ribs.

"You look fine, now let's go down to the common room and wait for the girls." 

They waited there for a good twenty minutes with the rest of the guys before any girl made an appearance. Liz was the first to come down, though she wouldn't have an escort. She wore lavender robes, her hair in curls.

"Ah, you look purdy," Sirius said lightly. 

"Thank you. I only wish Remus would come."

"Well, Peter doesn't have a date so maybe the two of you..." he said, pushing Peter towards her. 

"Sure," she said as she smiled at him. Peter smiled but gave both James and Sirius desperate looks. "Jade and Lily are still getting ready," she told them.

"What? You girls take too long," Sirius said. But they didn't have to wait too much longer as Jade and Lily both came down the stairs together. They both looked lovely.

Jade's attire composed of blue robes with a slit exposing her legs. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun leaving her neck completely uncovered. She smiled at Sirius then turned around so he could see the whole ensemble.

"What do you think?" she asked him. He was speechless.

Lily's robes looked much more like a dress. She had used the spell on her dress that she used on James's sweater over Christmas vacation. It was the exact color of her eyes, though almost changing in the light. It had a seductive V-neck which was revealing yet concealing. Her hair fell down long, as it most always did.

"You should be wearing a crown," James said. She blushed and smiled.

"We should start on our way down," she said. James took her hand lifted it above her head and spun her around. He clasped her hands so that their fingers laced though one another. Sirius had finally got over his shock at how good Jade looked, and took her hand. Liz took the liberty of linking her arm with Peter's because his hand was too sweaty to hold.

"Oh my," Jade said as they entered the Ball, which about summed it up for the rest of them. The Great Hall had been transformed into an enchanting array of sparkling splendor. The sky outside was light due to the moon's brightness, but the ceiling within the Hall was dark and sprinkled with millions of shimmering bright stars. Indeed, the rest of the room looked much like the ceiling. The walls were enchanted so it looked as if you would walk right past them and sail off into infinity.

The music was being preformed by Serena the Sorcerer, which brought an immediate grin to Jade who had seen Sirius perform one of her songs over the summer. The current song was very fast moving. Most couples were sitting down or watching but not dancing. Lily pulled James towards the empty dance floor, but he wouldn't budge.

"James, let's dance," she said.

"No way."

"Oh stop being such a baby and dance with me."

"Lily, I don't care how pretty you are or how good that outfit looks. I am not going out there. I'm not a dancer like you are."

"James, this is a Ball. That means people dance on occasion."

"And I will, when it's slower and I don't have to move my feet."

"Fine." She escorted them to a table.

"This is such a good song, though," Sirius said. "What about you, Jade, care to dance?"

"Well you see I would, but as soon as I get out there and 'danced' I think I'd clear the room. I'm great dancing alone when no one sees me, but not in public."

"So, it looks to me like we came with the wrong dates," Lily said. James looked at her, then at Sirius and smiled.

"Knock yourselves out," he said releasing Lily's hand. Sirius grinned, grabbed her hand and ran to the middle of the floor. 

Heads rose.

"Okay, so we're here. What kind of dances do you know?" she asked.

"Improvised ones. You?"

"All kinds. Why don't we just start someplace and go from there."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

Serena struck her band up into a very rhythmic song which involved lots of drums and plenty of base. Sirius looked into Lily's eyes and swung her out, then back into him with the beat. It was hard to keep a straight face.

Now plenty of people were interested in dancing. They all congregated around the dance floor to watch Lily and Sirius have a 'swinging' good time. The two looked as if they had been dancing since birth. Lily twirled, spun, and shook in all the right times as Sirius did the small steps.

"Ever notice how the girls seem to have more fun with this kind of thing?" Jade asked James as they watched.

"There's a reason for that," he said.

"Oh, and what's that?"

"Well, try to imagine Sirius moving like her."

Jade laughed.

"I rest my case." By this time the crowd was clapping to the beat, Serena was watching and singing with a grin, and Lily and Sirius looked like they were having a grand time. By the time the song ended, the entire seventh year was applauding them.

"Did you guys rehearse that?" Jade asked.

"No we're just really good," he said. He put his hand up and she slapped it. "Okay James, you can have her back now. Thank you for letting me borrow her."

"You're welcome, but it'll never happen again." The song Serena started this time was a slow one. "May I 'ave zis daunce, my lady?" he asked in a bad French accent.

"Oui," she said. He smiled, placed one hand on her waist and the other took her hand.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you look?" he asked.

"Only every day. Did I mention how handsome you are?"

"No, but I can see it in the way your eyes lust for my body," he said in a deep voice he intended to sound seductive but instead made him sound like a chain smoker. She giggled and rested her head on his chest. He shut his eyes and kissed her forehead, smelling her strawberry hair.

"I can't believe it's over."

"Me neither."

"No more school uniforms, no more mandatory classes, no more kissing in classrooms, or owl post in the morning."

"No more Quidditch games, or Slytherin attacks. But we're getting married in eighty days."

"You're counting the days?" she asked with bright eyes as she looked up at him.

"Of course. Aren't you?"

"Yeah," she said. She kissed him repeatedly then hugged him.

"It's getting close. You sure you still want me?"

"Positive. You sure you still want me?"

"I'm pretty sure about that," he said with a wry smile.

"You are aware that I have absolutely no cooking abilities whatsoever, right?"

"No, I didn't know that."

"Well I don't. I plan on spending the summer learning. How hard can it be?"

"Just don't kill us with the food," he said. "What a way to go. I can here it now, 'they loved toast. It only seems right that the toast kill them.'" Sirius and Jade came waltzing next to them to talk.

"Have you guys seen it?" Sirius asked.

"Seen what?"

"Poor Liz and Fred Astaire."

"No, where are they?" James asked.

"Follow the sound of feet being stepped on. Then look for a short dude in poop brown robes. When you've found him, duck to avoid the flying hexes being hurtled through the air by a certain Miss Banks."

"We have so got to see this," James said. He and Lily dance-followed Sirius and Jade to the spot of trouble where they found that Sirius wasn't exaggerating.

"You step on my foot one more time, and I swear to God," Liz muttered through her clenched teeth.

"How's the happy couple?" Sirius asked with too much pleasure.

"Fine," Peter said. James had to face the other way to keep from laughing at the scene. Lily too seemed over come with the giggles, so she led them away to their table.

"I know it's mean to be laughing," she said though still flushed with laughter. The two sat down, hand in hand, and watched Sirius and Jade dance. Once they calmed down, they got to talking.

"You think he'll ever settle down?" she asked.

"Sirius? I don't know."

"How long do you think they'll go out?"

"Not sure. This is the longest one he's had, and he likes her an awful lot. She could be for him. We'll have to wait and see."

"I hope they will. She wants to be in love so badly. She already has the names of her first three children picked out."

"Tell me she's ahead of you in that respect," he said taking a sip of punch.

She fiddled with the table cloth, then quickly changed the subject. "I wonder what it feels like to be up on stage singing your heart out like that."

"I don't know. I would never do it."

"Never? Haven't you ever wondered though?"

"Not really. I'm not much in the theatrics department."

"I bet you're a closet singer," she said with a smirk.

"No. I don't even sing in the shower. Sirius does though. He's terrible, but he sings his heart out." The songs sped up again and Sirius was back in the center of it all with Jade watching. Lily got up to go see then danced with some other girls (no not that kind of way!). Jade came over and sat down next to James. She smiled at him.

"Do you really have the names of your first three kids?" he asked. She laughed.

  
  


Hours later, when the Ball seemed to be winding down and all the couples were dancing slowly to the music, Serena stopped and called for attention. James squeezed Lily's hand.

"I have it under good authority," she said in thick cockney, "that we have a young singer in the audience which no one really knows about. She has no idea what's going on, so let's all welcome Lily Evans to the stage," she said. Everyone gave surprised applause, except Lily who was staring at James.

"What?" she asked.

"Go up there," he said.

"You?"

He nodded. She stood rooted to the spot until he began dragging her to the front.

"James I can't. I can't sing in front of all these people!" she said pulling back.

"Why not? You gave them a speech. You have a wonderful voice so sing to them. You'll always wonder how it felt," he said. Serena reached down and pulled her up on stage, the crowd cheering her name.

She timidly walked up to the front of the stage and tapped the magic mike. Serena bustled over and shoved lyrics in her face.

"You know this song?"

Lily looked down at them and nodded. She had only heard it once but it stuck with her for some reason. She didn't even need the words. 

The pianist started first with a soft touch of the keys, then the harp came in to play. She would have to sing very soon. What if she squeaked? Oh no, she thought, it's coming up. She closed her eyes and pretended they weren't all there, then opened her mouth to sing.

Don't lose your way, 

With each passing day.

You've come so far

Don't throw it away.

Live believing,

Dreams are for winning,

Wonders are waiting to start.

Live your story

Faith, hope, and glory,

Hold to the truth in your heart.

And now the chorus, she told herself, opening her eyes to see the dazzled crowd who looked awe struck rather than amused.

If we hold on, together

I know our dreams will never die

Dreams see us through to forever

Where clouds roll by,

For you and I.

The drums started up, and Lily swayed her hips to the rhythm. This was a good feeling, she thought to herself. She sang on beautifully, the words had so much meaning to her, as if she was meant for that song.

Souls in the wind 

Must learn how to bend.

Seek out a star

Hold on to the end.

Valley, Mountain

There is a fountain

Watch as our tears roll away.

Words are swaying

Someone is praying,

Please let us come home to stay.

  
  


If we hold on, together

I know our dreams will never die

Dreams see us through to forever

Where clouds roll by,

For you and I.

  
  


When we are out there in the dark

We'll dream about the sun.

In the dark we'll feel the light

Warm our hearts, everyone.

  
  


If we hold on, together

I know our dreams will never die.

Dreams see us through to forever

As high, as souls can fly, the clouds roll by

For you and I

  
  


The crowd cheered her before the music stopped. Lily smiled brightly and bowed to the crowd. They kept cheering for her and she loved every second of it. James waited for her at the bottom of the stage grinning from ear to ear. She ran to him and jumped into his arms. 

"Thank you," she said into his ear, "thank you."

"Don't mention it. You sounded wonderful! I think your neglecting your calling!" he said. Soon Sirius, Liz, Jade, and Peter were all talking incessantly to her about her voice which they had never heard. She blushed but smiled. The song had touched a place in her heart. She could feel it. A place not all people had, a place that was sacred, a place she had never felt before, and a place which was reserved for someone very special....

* * * * *

It was with bittersweet hearts that they boarded the train the very next morning. They had slept in their dormitories one last time, eaten in the Great Hall with friends one last time, and talked with their professors one last time. Sirius made sure he got his cheek kiss from Professor Gellar and talked loudly about it to James in their dorm as they packed up to go. Once everything was in his trunk, James took his pocketknife and carved into the stone behind his bed, "James Potter was here." Then he took a picture he had of him, Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Peter and slipped it under a loose floorboard under his bed. He had copied it, of course, but wanted it there for some quirky reason.

They loaded their trunks onto the train, gave the castle one more good look, then got aboard. The rest of the school had gone home earlier in the week, so there was tons of room on the train. The seven of them shared a large compartment, which was good; Sirius and Remus still avoided each other. James was starting to wonder if Remus was right: would they ever be friends again? It was hard to say. Time heals most things, James thought.

And so they sat there. Lily was snuggled tightly with her arms around James's waist, and his arms were around her, his chin over her head. Jade and Sirius were holding hands and leaning on each other. Remus had his head tilted back against the wall with his eyes shut, Liz next to him, and Peter sat next to the window. He occasionally looked outside, but mostly looked around at his pensive companions. James caught his eye and gave him a friendly wink, which Peter returned.

They were done with school. Done with homework, done with agonizing tests, Ordinary Wizarding Levels, done with no responsibilities and no worries about finances. They had their lives to live now. What would they become? Would they be disk jockeys, bakers, candlestick makers? Would any of them do great things?

James sighed and looked out the windows at the passing mountains. He could still see the dot that was his old school. He gave a weak smiled to it.

"Goodbye Hogwarts," he said as the rest of them smiled. "We'll miss you."


	24. THE END OF INNOCENCE: Introduction

***The Marauder Chronicles; The End of Innocence is a fan fiction. It isn't to be taken as true to the event's preceding Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Characters belong to J.K. Rowling. The IWBI, description of, and concept belong to me. This story isn't to be duplicated or sold. No copyright infringement is intended.***

Author's note: And now the seeds I have planted in the past twenty-three chapters can begin to grow. This is so much different from the years at Hogwarts that I've added to the title. This chapter breaks into a new era, so to speak, and so much of it is introduction and description. There are new characters who will take form with time. I hope you like it; please tell me what you think. There is a reason for everything, even though some of it doesn't seem important...for now. Thanks. 

The Marauder Chronicles; The End of Innocence

or 'The Years that Followed.'

...three weeks later...

Two men, not uncommon in stature, walked through a dark, cold hallway. The wind could be heard humming through the crevices in the doors and blacked-out windows. One of the men sneezed and wiped the snot off his nose and flicked it to the already molding walls. By the light of the acid green torches, which were lined on the gray stone walls, the men discerned two double doors to their left. Standing on each side were tall, ugly, and menacing mountain trolls, each equipped with large clubs. One of the men grunted, and the trolls opened the massive steel doors, which reached the ceiling of about twenty-five feet.

Inside was a small pentagonal room equipped with five doors, including the ones they had just entered. One of the men, the taller of the two, pointed to one of them to the left; the other nodded, and they continued to open it, revealing a steep curved staircase which led to their destination. They ascended.

At the top they met a cloaked figure, much like them. They couldn't see his face, nor could he see theirs. The two men lifted their sleeves to reveal their left forearms. The cloaked guard nodded to them and opened the door.

This room was adorned in green. The furniture was of deep red oak with black leather upholstery. There was a fireplace on one side of the round room filled with green and yellow flames.

"Any news?" said a high, cold voice from the dark depths of a high backed chair. The men couldn't make out his face as the darkness cloaked it, but they were able to see his long, spindly fingers as they flexed and touched each other's tips.

"Yes my lord," said one of the men, the shorter one.

"And..."

"He made it through the first stage."

"How was that allowed to happen?" His hands now clenched the arms of the great chair.

"I don't know my lord," he said.

The other man, taller, but not much, raised his hand. "If I may, Master?"

A long white finger raised, signaling the go ahead.

"He was thought of too highly by the Director of that sector. Russ is only second in command there, so he couldn't override the Director, nor could he come up with a reason to turn him down. His records are impeccable, and he is very intelligent."

There was a deep, disappointed sigh which came from the direction of the "Master." He reached out to the desk and grabbed his wand; he stroked it with his other hand.

"I ask myself every day, Russ, why you continue to disappoint me. Sometimes I think you spy on me and give information to your agency."

"No, my lord, never. I serve only you." He collapsed and got down on his knees, his hands clasped together in desperation.

"Then why was he appointed? You have an excellent standing, yet he made it through."

"Only the first stage. He's not an agent yet, my lord, not an agent yet. Please, give me a chance."

"How many should I give you?"

The man didn't say a word, but he kept himself on the floor.

"I see," he said, standing up and pacing back behind his chair. "How am I supposed to kill him if he's so well protected? Hmmm? What do you suggest?"

"I don't know," he said.

"Hasn't Lord Voldemort treated you well? Haven't I given you enough chances? Perhaps my constant requests are too much for your small, bureaucratic mind."

"No. Please master, don't-"

"Why shouldn't I? I told you to make sure that he didn't get through the first step. That place is near impossible to penetrate, not even you know where it is. He's too smart, you say. He's too well protected. He's too fast on his feet. Well, that is a shame now isn't it? Do you think I'm paranoid, Russ, you foul creature?"

"No, my lord, no. I will try to get him out, I will try."

"Try? And what do you think I should do to you if you fail?"

"My Master," the other man said. "If you kill him," he said, pointing to Russ, "you will lose one of your most valuable windows into the world. Not even Queen can stop the appointment of a field agent. It doesn't work that way. Perhaps if you told us why killing him is such a high priority we could better help you."

"No. If Potter gets through he'll be harder to kill. His father, small as he was, still proved valiant and willing to die for a good cause. I can imagine that our young Mr. Potter is just the same, and with some training he could be more than a burden to me."

"But nothing you can't handle, my lord," Russ said on the ground, still kneeling.

Voldemort whipped around quickly, stepped into the dim light, and pointed his wand at Russ. "Crucio," he muttered. Instantly Russ hit the floor, his back arching like a bow, his body twitching, his legs and arms flailing about. He screamed high and loud; it echoed on the rounded walls of the tall chamber.

"I can't stand your incessant failure and your less than respectful attitude. How dare you hold that tone with me, Russ," he said as Russ screamed louder with each second. The other man dared not turn to see what was happening. "Give me a reason, just give me a reason to kill you and you will breathe no more." He raised his wand, and Russ relaxed as he crawled to the door. Voldemort walked back to the other man, smiled, and lowered the man's hood.

"My faithful servant," he said lovingly as he stroked the man's hair with his skinny fingers. His red eyes widened with love as they looked upon the man. "I can count on you always. What are you going to do with our dear friend Potter?"

"It'll be hard to keep him out of the Bureau due to his intelligence, his skill, and his family connections, though they cease to exist. Having an Auror as a father is helpful. But we could always try to bring him to our side, and if that doesn't work, we kill him. But you're right, as always; he will be painfully protected and hard to kill if he's accepted into the Bureau, but it isn't impossible."

"Yes."

"Why do you want him dead, Master?" the man asked.

"I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I too wondered why I have such a drive to murder him, but it's really quite simple. My goals are clear and within reach. I want to conquer and rule over all. And I can't have people like him in this world to do so." He pointed his wand at Russ again and threw him to the wall. "Do what you can to get him on our side, but if you can't we'll have to go to another plan." He nodded to the man, let Russ go, and then walked back to his chair.

The men both bowed deeply to him, raised their hoods back over their heads, and left. 

Voldemort sat down in his deep chair and smiled to himself. He summoned a large book to him from his shelves. The cover was made of a blood red satin with gold trim. He ran his fingers over it and sighed deeply with an evil smile, as if the book gave him far too much pleasure. He laughed as he stared at the volume, big and heavy in his hands. "Oh James," he laughed cruelly, "oh if only you knew!"

* * * * * * *

Yet another fire alarm sounded through the kitchen of a large manor in Norfolk, England. It was so loud and piercing that Amanda feared the windows would shatter. Lily ran for the fire extinguisher and sprayed it inside the oven from which thick smoke was billowing.

"Lily!" her mother cried.

"I'm sorry!" she yelled back as she continued to spray inside the oven. After the flames had gone out, both she and her mother opened all the windows and waved large towels at the fire alarm. 

"That's the third time in two days, Lily dear," Amanda said, not sounding at all soothing.

"I know that," she said back.

"How can you burn bread? Just set the oven to the right temperature, put the timer on, and let it bake."

"I did that."

"No, no, no. If you had done that the house wouldn't have burned down."

"Mum, I just want to learn to cook, is that so much to ask?"

"It is as if your father and I are risking our lives."

Lily dropped the towel, rolled her eyes, and walked back into the kitchen. She opened the oven, looked inside, and dropped her shoulders. "It's black," she wined.

"Well of course it is, dear," she said. "Isn't there some magic way to do all this?"

"Probably," Lily said, sounding defeated.

"Then stick with what you know and leave the real work up to the real people. You don't want to kill your husband, do you?"

"No," she said. Lily took out the bread and put it on the tile countertop to let it cool. Just then there was a soft popping noise, and Jade appeared out of thin air. She smiled at Lily.

"I love how convenient Apparation is. Oh no," she said as she saw the bread, "burst into flames again?"

"Yeah. Gosh, would you look at how black it is," she wined.

"Bread tends to turn black when you set fire to it. Funny how that works."

"So, what's the story?" she asked Jade. They moved into the living room and sat in the sofa. 

"I saw them."

"You saw them?" Lily asked excitedly.

"Oh yeah."

"And?"

"Very nice."

"Where?"

"The cutest little shop in Bordeaux, France. They were absolutely perfect, Lily."

Amanda then entered the living room and sat down in the love seat. "What are we talking about?" she asked.

"Jade found the bride's maids' dresses in Bordeaux. We've been looking for them for a while in magazines and shops but couldn't find them."

"They're perfect, Amanda. Soft light blue, nice cut, and they don't make me look hippy."

"Jade, you have small hips," Amanda said.

"Yeah, for a horse. Anyways, the price is a little high, but I told the woman to put them on reserve for us."

"Price doesn't matter," Amanda said lightly. "You only marry once. Get the dresses. Which reminds me, Lily you have the hair appointment for the 8th. Ten in the morning."

"Thanks Mum, and great."

"So, how's your Dad handling this?" Jade asked with a grin.

"Well, you know. He's...well...let's just say that he's a little less...maybe that's not the best way to describe it....I mean he really likes James and all. It's just the idea of me walking down the aisle and getting married and leaving him forever. He's less composed, I suppose. Hey that rhymes."

"Less composed, huh. Has he cried at all?"

"Only when we talk about it," Amanda said with a smirk.

"Yeah, the wedding isn't mentioned too much with him around. I guess he fell apart when he got the invitation. We're going to try to ease into it, little by little."

"Very wise," Jade said nodding. "I personally don't think it's the wedding that bothers him..."

"I agree somewhat. The actual ceremony is an issue, but more so is..." Lily said moving her hand.

"The sex?" Amanda suggested. Jade had to cover her mouth to keep her composure.

"Mother!" Lily said, surprised. Jade lost it; she burst out laughing.

"Well honey, I'm not an idiot. Have you bought something naughty to wear for that night, because that's what I did for our honeymoon?"

Lily wanted to put her hands over her ears and hum loudly when she heard this. "I really don't want to hear what you and daddy did on your honeymoon."

"The same thing you're going to do on yours. Anyway, I found that black was the best color for me, but of course I was much thinner and youthful back then. It doesn't stop me now, though," she said with a wry smile. Jade was very amused; Lily looked like she was going to be sick.

"Can we not talk about this?" Lily said. Jade grinned and changed the subject.

"So, Amanda, what do you really think of James?"

"He's adorable," she said. "He's perfect for Lily. Tall, handsome, great smile, tight butt," she said casually then laughed with Jade.

"Mother!" Lily said laughing as she slapped her mother's knee. "What has gotten into you?"

"What? She asked me, and I said what I thought. Just because I'm old it doesn't mean that I'm blind and I don't know these things. Besides, we're all just young girls here."

"Well, I'll let it pass," Lily said, still smiling, "but only because he does have a tight butt." They laughed again.

"So, Jade, what about Sirius? We only talk about the wedding, but what about the two of you?"

"Oh we're good. He's still trying to get this job. They're having him jump through all these hoops, and he's been really busy, but we're good. They're still working on their flat, or should I say hole in the wall, but it's coming along. Boxes are all over the place, but they like it."

"It is a bit of a hole in the wall, isn't it?" Lily said.

"Yeah, but at least they have a hole. I don't, so I have to envy theirs. My parents are driving me crazy," she said. "Sirius seems to be growing into the situation though, which is good. He needs to grow up some."

"I'll swim in tomato soup the day he grows up, both of them for that matter. I think the job will be good for them."

"Yeah," she said.

"What is this job they're after?" Amanda asked.

Lily and Jade took a deep breath. "Well, that's just it. We know it's in the IWBI," she said, but then went to elaborate when she saw the confused look on her mother's face. "International Wizard Bureau of Investigation. It's the magical equivalent to the Central Intelligence Agency in America or MI-6 here. Only instead of focusing on one country, it's international. Anyway, we don't exactly know what department. It's hard to get information on the Bureau, we only know it exists and fights evil, but that's about it. James and Sirius interviewed for it and made it through the first step, but they can't tell us the rest of it until they get formally accepted," Lily said.

"Sounds important and dangerous. So how did James hear about it?"

"Well, Byron, his father, was an Auror, so I suspect that's how he heard. Aurors are privy to tons of information, and he probably told James at some point. People know about IWBI, just not a great deal. It's more like they seek you out for a job instead of the other way. Anyone can apply, but only the top students get the first interview. The second one is an accomplishment to make, but the third is near impossible. James and Sirius were both very happy when they made the third interview. But yes, it's important. As for dangerous, I'm not sure. James might work at a desk for all we know. We'll just have to wait and see."

"Sounds riveting," she said. "So you'll know everything that's going on in the intelligence world then?"

"Not exactly. He told me a while ago that if he got a job there, he wouldn't be able to discuss work too much. I mean he can tell me some things but nothing remotely interesting."

"So what will you talk about?" her mother asked.

Lily shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Stuff."

"That's Lily's way of saying that they won't talk but-"

"We're at my parents' house, Jade. Could you keep it to a minimum?"

"Oh, I knew what she meant before she said it, sweetie. Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll find something to say to one another."

"Speaking of which," Jade said, looking at her watch, "we have to be there soon, and I'm still not dressed the way I want to be. I have to go. See you there, Lily. Bye Amanda," Jade said, and she Disapparated quickly.

Lily looked at her watch. "Yeah I should get ready to go, too." Lily got up and ran to her bedroom.

  
  


...Some where in Leeds...

  
  


"I got him!" Sirius said, jumping over a pile of boxes and dashing around a leather chair.

"He's going through the wall, Sirius!" James yelled.

Sirius got down on the floor and put his hand through the wall. James came up behind him. 

"Can you get him?" he asked.

"I'm trying but-OW! It bit me!" he said pulling out his now bleeding fingers. "I'm going to get the plague and die," he continued as he slowly turned green at the sight of blood.

"Sirius, just cover it up with a towel or something, and we'll let Lily take care of it when she arrives, which is in about five minutes. We need to find that rat."

"You get it. Can't you see I'm bleeding to death?" he said weakly as he wrapped a towel around his hand. 

"Bleeding to death," James chuckled as he shook his head at Sirius. "Please, Sirius, you're going to be fine. I'll get the big, bad rat for you." James got down on his stomach and pulled up the wall panel. The black rat shot out and went for the small kitchen. James leaped up, grabbed his wand, and yelled, "Stupify!" The rat flopped down and ceased to move. "There," he said, "no more rat."

"I bet he has a family here: momma rat and the little kiddy rats."

"Well, we'll kick them out when we find them." James took the rat by the tail, walked over to the window, and tossed him out. The rat fell in a trash bin two stories down. James wiped his hands together then looked back at Sirius. "This place is a pigpen." And Sirius couldn't agree more. There were boxes of all sizes strewn over the floor, the walls were dusty and falling apart, the carpet had a number of mystery stains, and they could clearly hear crawling between the walls.

"Ah," Sirius said, surveying the place, "home sweet crap." James laughed. "The girls are going to complain again, I can just hear it."

"I think they're dying to help us with this mess."

"I think this place has a lot of character. And even better, it's cheap. Cheap is better than living with parents, that's for sure. At least the furniture is good. I'm glad you didn't sell that." 

"Me too."

There were three knocks on the door. James went over to it and opened it.

"Hey!" he said to Lily and Jade. "Welcome to our home," he said sarcastically as he showed them in.

"Oh dear," Jade said, looking around. Sirius came over to her and gave her a greeting kiss then took her hands and led her to his room. "What's in there?" she asked.

"Privacy," he said with a smile.

"I like privacy," she said with a grin and allowed him to pull her in. 

"That leaves us then," Lily said. "Please tell me you're going to fix this place up and not leave it in this state. We can help you."

"Sirius and I going to fix it up, alright. We just eradicated a resident rodent as a matter of fact. But this place needs a lot of work besides decoration."

She leaned on him and wrapped her arms around him. He did the same and kissed her forehead. "At least you won't be living here too long," she said warmly.

"I can't wait to be married to you," he said. He could feel her smiling into his chest.

"Me neither," she sighed.

"Lily," Jade said loudly. She slammed Sirius's door open, and dragged him by one hand into the kitchen. "Sirius needs your medical attention," she said, showing her Sirius's bitten hand.

"How did this happen?" Lily asked him, taking a closer look. Sirius looked anxiously to Jade then smirked at James.

"Rat" was all he said. Jade choked a cry.

"Rat?" she repeated with her hand to her mouth. "There are rats in here? Not that I'm surprised, but actually in the room?" she said calmly, though her trembling fingers would suggest anything but eased nerves.

Sirius grinned and looked to James. "Oh yeah, in this very room."

"Adds charm and character," James said back.

"And we don't mind sharing it with some other tenants, even though they don't pay rent."

"Actually Sirius, if you think about it, they kinda do. Last night they ate your crust."

"Right!" Sirius said, as if a light bulb had just come on. "They did do that for us without our even asking them. How considerate." 

"You guys are too much," Jade said, lightly sniggering. James and Sirius smiled and bowed. "So can you fix him Lily?" she continued.

"Of course, it's nothing I can't handle." She whipped out her wand, mumbled an incantation, and Sirius was healed.

"You're handy to have around," he said to her.

"Why thank you. Shall we get to the fixing then?" she said, looking around the flat. "Please," James and Sirius said in unison. The four of them nodded and pulled up their sleeves. 

Jade took care of the walls with some spells she had found and put them back to how they would appear normally. She also completely renovated the carpet, not only removing the stains, but cleaned and changed the color to a nice clean cream with the boys' permission.

Lily went through the boxes and shelved the books, folded their clothes, and cleaned their rooms.

"What should we do?" James and Sirius asked as they leaned against their new wall.

"Just stand there and think of how you're going to pay us," Jade answered with a smile to Sirius. Lily agreed and told them to stay out of the way and let them handle it. 

In no time, the flat had gone from grime to shine. Lily and Jade had managed to make their kitchen sparkle, their rooms dazzle, and the living room livable. They were both very happy with their accomplishment, so they stood and admired it for several minutes without saying a word.

"Er..." James said, looking around, just as impressed, "it looks really nice. If it were left to Sirius and me, we would have tried cleaning it, but you two gutted it out, and it worked."

"Well you know," Jade said, "a woman's touch."

They decided to dine there, as it was so much better. 

They talked about nearly everything: the wedding, Lily's schooling, which would start soon, Peter and his domineering mother, Liz and her new busy job at the Ministry, and Remus who was still unemployed. Jade, who always considered herself to be out of the loop, had finally put two and two together and got that Remus was a werewolf. She was shocked and surprised but didn't think any less of him. After all, it wasn't like he asked for it to happen.

Lily voiced some of her concern for Liz and Remus's relationship but hoped for the best, whatever that was. Then they discussed how open it was to be out of school. The protective walls of Hogwarts were gone; they all felt strangely naked and exposed without them. News of Voldemort flew around their table as well as what should be done with him. They, of course, couldn't think of anything reasonable, but it was enjoyable to discuss.

Then finally the jobs came up. Jade talked about her position at the Ministry of Magic but surprised them all when she said she was privy to classified information.

"How can a historian know top secret data?" Sirius asked.

"We can. Besides, I'm not just a historian. I take the information from the past and wield it so I can see how a country, or a person, behaves therefore giving me the knowledge to know what they'll do next. But I do know stuff that you don't know. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

"So what about you two? Tell us about what the Bureau is having you do all the time."

Sirius and James looked at each other, each scanning the other's face.

"Well," James said, looking at his empty glass, "they offered me a job," he said.

Lily looked into his eyes and smiled. "That's great, isn't it?" she said.

"Yes, but I have to talk to you about it before I can continue on. I need to know what you think about it first."

"And you Sirius?" Jade asked. He grinned. 

"Yeah, me too. Different position, but same sector. Actually it's a little funny, but they offered me a job to be an analyst, sort of like you. I don't know why exactly. I thought maybe they would have me work in the field, but they didn't. So it's off for a nice desk job for the time being."

"Well, you're very smart, Sirius. History-"

"No, it's not history. That's a whole different level. I get to look at reports from the field. I get to look at spy photographs, listen in on bad guys, and even, if I'm lucky, interrogate a few people."

Jade leaned forward across the table with a huge exited grin on her face. "Really?" she asked breathlessly. "That is the neatest job ever! I'm so happy for you, Sirius! You actually get to look into espionage, wow. I envy you," she said, getting up and hugging him tightly. He grinned, kissed her, and held on to her.

"Yeah, I can't wait to get started." Sirius looked over at James and saw he needed to talk to Lily now rather than later. "How about you and I get some desert or something?" he asked her. She nodded, looked back at Lily and James, then got up and headed for the door, Sirius right behind her. He winked at James, and then they both left.

James got up and moved over to be with Lily. He took her hands and took a deep cleansing breath.

"What do they want you to do?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"They want me to work in the field," he said slowly.

"The field? Isn't that their way of saying they want you to be a spy?" she said.

"No," he replied, shaking his head. "I won't be a spy. Spies go into the action; they go undercover and essentially become a Dark wizard to get the information. What I would be doing is different. I would be more like the home base, or a coordinator. I'd get information that Sirius would analyze, take pictures, plant homing amulets, listen in when the spy has the ears. Does that make sense?"

Lily looked at him hard and smiled, but it wasn't a happy one. "James, that is a spy."

He sighed and shut his eyes. "No."

"A coordinator you said? So you would command them? Tell them what to do, listen to what they hear, plant devices, and take pictures and you don't think that's spying?" she asked.

"Well..."

"James, what kind of protection are they giving you?"

He looked up at the ceiling, around the walls, and at the floor. He pointed to everything. "This entire building, because Sirius and I are living here, is being concealed with the use of a Nascondersi spell. It's a high security charm that enables us to be hidden like a shield is covering us. It's nearly impossible to break, and I'm not even working there yet. I would be very safe, Lily. They don't send dummies out there."

She continued to stare at him, his hands still clutching hers.

"How often would you go out into the 'field'?" she asked.

"I don't know. When they need me, I guess. I wouldn't be the only one holding this position. I mean there are at least four others that I know about. They say that it switches around quite a bit, so the enemy doesn't know what to expect."

"Oh well then," Lily said sardonically, "that makes me feel tons better. As long as they change shifts so the enemy can't find a distinct pattern...go for it. By all means become a spy." She got up, picked up the dishes, and took them into the kitchen. He got up and followed her.

"Look, nothing is going to be a sure deal. It's dangerous out there. Voldemort's hands are slowly taking control of everything. No position is safe. Hell, I just read an article today about Muggles being killed by him. Muggles, Lily. He's killing them for sport because he can. Not even people in the other world are safe from him. No one is safe. This job, the job they want me to have, could work against him. The more we learn about him the better our chances are for beating him. Don't you understand that? I would be gathering information that could save lives. And it's safer than other jobs, even Quidditch. Ashika said that Voldemort has Death Eaters in at least twenty-five percent of the teams."

"Who's Ashika?" Lily asked.

"Ashika Narayan. She's the Director of Counterintelligence, my division if I take the job. They're everywhere, Lily. And what's scary is that more and more join his ranks with each obstacle he blasts out of the way. We're not in Hogwarts anymore. We can no longer turn our heads to the evil that's swallowing our world."

"I just," she started, but stopped. She covered her face with her hands and ran them up through her hair. "This is so much. I just want you to be safe."

"I will be. These people are safety freaks, Lily. I haven't even seen the Bureau yet. Ashika doesn't even know what country it's in. That's how safe it is. It's 'static free', and you have to have security clearance just to Apparate to the Apparation chamber. It's hard to describe, but I assure you, it's one of the safest places in the world. I could save lives, Lily." He stared hard into her eyes, as if looking for her answer there. She looked back at his eyes full of determination, not to achieve world fame and glory like the eyes she saw after Quidditch, but the blue eyes that were resolved to extinguish the fires of evil. He wanted to do this, she could tell.

He did have that natural goodness in him. He wasn't perfect, but he was moral and just. He played by his own rules, got into trouble from time to time, but somehow you could always trust him. As stupid as it sounded, you could always trust him.

"Why you?" she asked. "Why do they want you to do it? Wouldn't they want someone with more experience, someone older and wiser? Why do they want you?"

James shook his head. "I don't really know. Ashika said I had good qualities. I'm smart, I work well under pressure, and she says I'm a good leader and that people look up to me."

"How does she know that?" Lily asked, but smiling somewhat.

"Dumbledore, I suspect. Being Quidditch Captain did have its drawbacks, but so far it hasn't come close to the advantages. I've already worked with a team towards a goal. I've already been a team leader."

"But this time it isn't catching a snitch or scoring a goal," she said. "This time it's going in behind enemy lines, so to speak."

"Yes, but the methods are the same. It's about all about strategy, the players, finding their weaknesses, and learning how to throw them off course and make an interception. Espionage is a game, Lily. Dangerous and complicated, but still just a game. But this time I won't be scoring with the Quaffle; I'll just pass it and let the rest of the team score." He smiled and watched her face.

"You really want to do this, don't you?" she asked.

He grinned back at her. "Yes, I absolutely do. They are not only safe but also family oriented. They've already told me that if I take the job, they'll give me a week and a half paid vacation for Rome. That's how bad they want me. They said they'd call me when needed, and it's true, but I won't work around the clock like I would be if I played for the Eagles. I mean it all fits. I could see you when you're not at school, fight the bad guys, and be safe. This is it, Lily. This is what I was born to do. I know it; I can feel it. All the pieces are falling into place. When we were at school, we snooped around, drew a map so detailed not even Dumbledore knows as much as we do, and we were able to infiltrate the Slytherin common room. I've been playing the spy game for years, now I can do the real thing in the real world."

He does have a point, a little voice said inside her busy mind. He can be sneaky, yet trustworthy, a weird but valuable combination. She had never thought of it before. He always told her the truth, yet he was deceptive to others. No wonder they want him so badly, who wouldn't?

"You'd be safe," she said more for herself than James. "And you'd be happy as you save the world. And it's so sweet that you came to me to talk about it."

"We're a team, you and I. So what do you say teammate?" he asked with a boyish smile.

"I think," she started as she looked into those baby blues, "I think you would be good for it. I think you're right; perhaps you were born for it. You just have to promise me that you'll always come home to me in one piece, James Potter," she said, shaking a finger at him, which he found amusing. 

"I promise," he said grinning. "Will you promise that when you become a world famous doctor you won't leave me for someone better looking."

"Well, there isn't anyone better looking than you. I go for looks alone, you know."

"Is that right? So do I," he said, nodding his head.

"We're just a couple of shallow individuals I'd say."

"I quite agree. But for now I'll just admire your face up close," he said, leaning in closer to her. She put her hands around his neck and drew him closer for an ardent kiss.

The door slowly opened a crack. A nose, very similar to the nose of Sirius Black, emerged slowly. Then lips, and then eyes. Soon a head and neck were quite visible in the flat. Sirius looked into the kitchen, smiled, then ducked out.

"Well?" Jade asked. "Kissing, right?"

"Of course," he said.

"It was wrong of us to listen in on them, wasn't it?"

"Well, not really. They did have privacy, and it's not like they wouldn't have told us anyhow. Besides, we are working on our intelligence gathering."

"Oh I see," Jade said. "Intelligence gathering. You are positively correct, Mr. Black. This is purely work related."

"Absolutely."

"Not eavesdropping?"

"I wouldn't stand for it," Sirius said as if scandalized by the very idea.

They sat in comfortable silence for a small time and waited to hear talking coming from the door.

"Do you think they'll suspect us when we 'return' without ice cream?"

"Do you really think they'll remember that?"

"Maybe."

"Yeah, let's go get some," he said, taking Jade by the hand.

  
  


James and Sirius walked down a sidewalk to a café where they were told to be at six in the morning. James had a very difficult time in rousing Sirius awake. He finally took a bucket of cold water and splashed it on his face. Sirius didn't speak to him on their long journey to the café. 

The two entered the restaurant as if they had done it one thousand times before and looked for a booth where they could sit and wait. James pointed to one in the corner and they made their way over.

"Can I get you two gents anything?" a waitress asked. She was very thin with bleach-blonde curly hair and wore painfully red lipstick.

"Coffee," Sirius said as he laid his head on his hand. "And a sledgehammer for my good pal here," he added.

"I'll have some tea," James told her. She looked strangely at Sirius then went to get their orders. "Do you know whom we're supposed to meet?" James asked.

"No," Sirius said coldly. "Someone with a really funny sense of humor. Someone whose nose is going to be so much smaller when I meet them. God doesn't get up at this ungodly hour. That's why it's called an 'ungodly' hour. Because even He, the Divine seer and wisest of all, is still sleeping."

"I don't think God sleeps," James said. The waitress brought over the coffee and tea and set it down for them.

"There you go chaps," she said. "Have a nice ride."

James and Sirius looked at each other and both agreed without even speaking to each other; that the woman was weird. James shook it off, raised his cup to Sirius who did the same, and made a toast.

"To...God for his sense of humor and good laugh that he is having right now."

"Here, here," Sirius said. Then they drank.

But instead of fluids traveling down to their stomachs, they personally traveled at break neck speeds to an unknown destination. It was the fastest moment of their lives as they were catapulted into a circular room which was void of human life. They both lay on the white marble floor, eyes bulging and hearts racing. James could hear himself and Sirius breathing very rapidly and rather loudly.

"What the hell happened?" Sirius asked.

"No idea," James said breathlessly.

"Where the hell are we?" 

"No idea."

Slowly, the two of them got up and looked around. It was a round room, with a diameter of about twenty feet. Both the ceiling and the floor were made of pure, almost glowing, white marble. The walls looked like black obsidian, for James and Sirius could see their reflections. It was amazingly bright, yet there were no lights, candles, or sun in this room. The silence was overbearing. 

"Interesting," James said as he walked along the wall.

"It would be if we weren't stuck here. Press on the walls and see if you can get out," he suggested. James touched the shiny black walls, but they were solid all the way around the room. 

"We're trapped," James said, trying not to sound panicked.

"I'll bet you everything that vampire lips put something in our drinks. I mean she said 'have a nice ride.'"

"Really?" James asked sarcastically. "Wow Sirius, excellent analytical perception. However, that's not helping the current situation is it?"

Sirius mumbled something rude under his breath and started pacing the wall. "This is probably some sort of test," Sirius said. "Probably a psyche test. They keep us in a room, like lab rats, and watch how we behave under pressure. These walls," Sirius said knocking on them, "are double sided glass. They're watching us. A bunch of shrinks are studying our every move and scribbling it down on a clipboard." Sirius turned to the wall and stuck out his tongue then checked his teeth. "There, what you think about that, you pinheads!" 

"Why don't you just moon the wall, Sirius," James said.

"You know, I might do that if we're in her for much longer!" he yelled to the ceiling.

"We need to relax. I don't think we're in immediate danger," James said.

"We will be if the oxygen runs out. This is all because they woke us at six in the morning and didn't allow us coffee."

"If this is a psyche test, then I think we flunked it. It'll be the first test I've flunked, ever. And I am not crazy. Not at all."

"James, proposing marriage when you're sixteen to a girl you've been dating for less than a year in a train station is crazy."

"Well," James said. "The truth comes out."

"Oh please. You've always been a fruitcake. It's part of who you are, and I like it, but saying you're not crazy is pushing it, pal."

"Hey, you were only attracted to Jade because she pretended to hate you. You fell for a girl who hated you. Now who's the crazy one?"

"At least I didn't turn down a chance to play professional Quidditch because my girlfriend didn't want me to," Sirius said. He put on a high voice, "Oh James, don't leave me, don't you love me?" James advanced on him.

"Are you mocking Lily?" he asked, trying to tower over him.

"No," Sirius said sarcastically.

"Listen, that choice was mine and hers, not yours. You're just jealous because they offered it to me instead of you."

"Yeah, that's it," Sirius said, with sarcasm again. "I'm jealous of you. Yeah."

James put his hands to his face. "Look at what we're doing," he said. "This is crazy. We don't think this of each other."

"Well, a little," Sirius said, throwing out his hands.

"You think I'm a nutcase?" James asked, looking quite hurt.

"Just a teeny, tiny, little bit," Sirius said as he put his thumb and pointer finger close together.

"Well that's swell," James said, pacing again. "My best friend in the world thinks I'm off my rocker. Right?"

"That's a bit strong, but essentially...yes."

"Fine," James said, throwing his hands out shoulder high. "Answer me this truthfully: Were you jealous that I was offered Quidditch and you weren't?"

"Of course I was. Who wouldn't be? I mean gosh..." he hesitated then held his hand up to his eyes. 

"Oh Sirius," James said, drawing close to his friend, "I'm so sorry."

"Can I hug you, man?" Sirius asked.

"Sure," James said as he enclosed Sirius in his arms. "It's going to be okay." They stood there hugging for a few short seconds when both of them pushed each other.

"Were we hugging?" Sirius asked as if disgusted by the idea.

"Yeah," James said with a facial expression as though he'd eaten dung.

"We sounded like women. I mean, women hug and talk about feelings. This room is really getting to us!"

"Okay, I got it," James said. "You sit over there, and I'll sit across from you, and we won't talk until...well...until we rot into oblivion."

"Sounds good," Sirius said lightly as he slid down to the ground. James did the same. They ended up staring at each other with nothing better to do. It seemed like hours that they just sat there, staring.

"Maybe we should talk," James said.

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?" Sirius asked.

"I dunno," James said.

"Well, it's your idea. Pick a topic."

"How about..."

"Women?" Sirius suggested.

"I thought I was picking the topic," James said resentfully.

"You took too long," he said.

"Like it matters. This is probably Hell. That woman poisoned our drinks, and we died, and now we have to spend eternity in Hell together. So excuse me if I don't think of a topic to discuss as soon as you wanted it. We have eternity."

Sirius furrowed his brow at James then continued on. "I like Jade a lot. Too bad I'll never see her again."

"Would you have married her? I don't get to be married to Lily. I really wanted to marry her. Now I have to die a virgin. Well, I'm dead a virgin. Geese that stinks."

Sirius started laughing hysterically like a madman. "What's so funny?" James asked, smiling slightly.

"At least you won't have to streak through school!" And he laughed again.

"I really had that dream, you know. I'm dead serious about that."

"Sure," he continued. "You just made it up. If it was true you would have told me about it."

"No!" James said. "I had that dream. I can't believe how crazy we're becoming! Will somebody please help us!" James yelled at the ceiling.

Just then one black panel disappeared and was replaced by what looked like a vertical water puddle, both blue and rippling with waves. James and Sirius looked at it then slowly back at each other.

"What is that?" Sirius asked. They both got up and walked towards it to examine it closer. They could see their wavy reflections in it. "So what is it?" Sirius asked again.

"How should I know?" James said.

"Touch it," Sirius said.

"Touch it? Why me?"

"Because you're braver than I am, and you're a virgin."

James looked at Sirius for a while wanting to give him a good shove into whatever the heck this thing was. "Fine," James said, "because I have guts and you have...whatever!" 

He shoved Sirius aside and stood directly in front of the phenomenon. He took his hand and reached out and touched it. Nothing happened.

"What does it feel like?" Sirius asked.

"Air," James said. Sirius came up and stood beside him, then touched it for himself.

"Weird," he said. James took a deep breath and started forward, but Sirius held him back. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Going through, of course."

"Why?"

"I'm sick and tired of this room, that's why. You coming?" he said with determination. 

"I guess. You go, I go, right?"

"Right. On the count of three, and don't you dare go on two or I swear I'll hurt you."

"Fine. I'll count. One...two...three." And they stepped through. They felt like they were being pulled many different directions, the pressure on their heads was mounting like they were fifty feet under water, and they saw swirls of black and bright electric blue flash before their eyes. But then it all ended. The next thing they knew was that they were standing in a large, oval room full of bustling people. The ceiling and floor were marble though not the blinding white as in their previous room but a pleasant, shiny, dark gray. The walls were still mirror like but royal blue which looked rather pretty, actually. Directly in front of them was a long and wide hall way with people of all nationalities walking to and fro doing business as usual.

"James Potter and Sirius Black. You're right on time," a short woman said. She appeared, it seemed, out of nowhere and was standing in front of them. "Welcome to the International Wizard Bureau of Investigation."

About a thousand questions popped into each of their heads as they stared at this magnificence which appeared right before their eyes. The woman in front of them wore a very friendly smile and held in her hand a clipboard, presumably with their names and photographs. She appeared to be in her thirties. Her dark, graying hair was back in a professional bun, her eyes glowed of friendliness, and her gold loop earrings swayed back and forth though she wasn't moving.

"I'm Nyah, your tour guide," she said as she put out her hand for them to shake. Both did so, but with half their hearts. "So, if you'll follow me I'll tell you about the headquarters."

"Um...I'm sorry," James said.

"Nyah," she said cheerily.

"Nyah. What was that room we were in for hours?"

"That, James, was the Apparation Chamber. You'll Apparate there every morning for work and travel through the portal to get here. It is impossible to Apparate inside this building so everyone takes the portal."

"Portal?" Sirius said.

"Yes. We have few doors here. Portals have three levels of security. The one you just entered is high security. The room you were in, for a few minutes actually, scanned your body and knew instantly that you were you. Then the portal knew that you had been cleared to enter. Only people with clearance can enter here, you see. It makes it safe."

James and Sirius nodded in confusion. "So, let's get started." She started walking forward, and they followed. With a loud whoosh, the room that they had been in vanished, and behind them was now a wall, solid to the touch.

"What happened to the room you met us in?" James asked.

"Oh, that's just the entry room. You'll see it every day, don't make such a fuss," she said then started on her way again.

"Yeah, but it's gone!"

"James, it's there, but you just don't have a reason to go back there. Now can we continue?"

James and Sirius gave each other quizzical looks and followed Nyah onward. Each of them couldn't help but notice how many different types of people were here. They passed a German and a Frenchman bickering, and then they saw an American telling jokes to three Japanese wizards. 

"To our left is the main area for counterintelligence analysts, which is you, Sirius. To our right is the Counterintelligence Operations Unit which is where you'll be, James." There was a small bronze plaque beside each portal which led to the offices. One said "Counterintelligence Operations Unit" , and the other said "Analysis and Development Unit." And just like the portal they entered, these were blue and wavy. They even saw a young woman come out of one of them as if it were totally normal.

"Awesome," Sirius said in awe. James silently agreed. He never imagined the Bureau to be this amazing. Nyah showed them everything on the Counterintelligence level which included a large facility for the Historians, a safe house and training room for field agents, a Medical wing, a Counseling center, and a Gymnasium equipped with a swimming pool (a nice one), weight room, a real track, and a boxing ring. Across from that was a field agent and operations officer simulation training room which, Nyah informed them, they would both see a lot of. They had to go through the minimum-security portal of the Gym to get to the classrooms which looked much more modern than the ones at Hogwarts. And adjacent to the classrooms was an amazing Aviary filled with hundreds of birds, most of which weren't owls but raptors.

"Now," Nyah continued, "there are two conference rooms which are, of course, for meetings, some boring others fascinating. I can't show you these as I don't have clearance and neither do you. Our last stop will be to see the Director and Vice Director of this sector. Do you have any questions so far?" she asked.

Yeah, they had questions, about a million. It was so much to absorb, yet they wanted to learn as much as possible from this place.

"How did we get here?" Sirius asked first.

Nyah smiled. "Our agent gave you some rather interesting drinks, didn't she? Inside were tiny grains, invisible to the naked eye, which were programmed for your bodies alone. If you had switched drinks, mayhem would have unfolded. They transported you to the Apparation chamber. Now you'll have to remember that place and just Apparate, then walk to the portal."

"But we were in there for eternity. We thought we were dead and in Hell," Sirius said.

"The grains do funny things to you. They're still working the kinks out upstairs. You actually weren't in there for very long. You just perceived it as such. The portal appears when you ask the room for help, so in a way, Sirius, you were right; it was a bit of a test." She grinned guiltily at the looks on their faces and then led them to the far end of the building, hung a right, then a left, and they found themselves facing yet another portal, but this one was quite a bit larger and looked more like a mirror rather than vertical water. James looked at the plaque to the right and read aloud: Director and Vice Director of C.I. Sector.

"Well, I leave you here," Nyah said. "They'll tell you everything else. See you two around." And without a goodbye, she left. James and Sirius looked at each other, and, this time without counting, entered.

The other side looked like a regular office. A single secretary sat at a blue steel desktop that was suspended in midair. She had brown curly hair and a stone hard face. She looked up at them skeptically.

"Potter and Black?" she asked.

They nodded.

"Wait one moment please." She got up and went down a hall.

"How cool is this place, man?" Sirius whispered excitedly.

"The coolest!" James said and they gave each other a high five before the secretary came back.

"They'll see you now. Please follow me." They did so and found themselves in front of an oak door. The woman opened it for them, and they entered.

Sitting on one side of a long, smooth, black, shiny table were two people. One was a man in his early fifties with matted brown hair, big ears, and a weak chin. He didn't smile at them when they entered, just nodded his head and scanned them. The other was a woman. She looked to be from India. She had thick shiny black hair which was nicely arranged into a braided bun. She had large black eyes, an exotic but very attractive face, and a nice smile full of clean white teeth. She looked very young, but James, who had met her previously, knew otherwise.

"Welcome Mr. Black and Mr. Potter," she said with a slight Indian accent. "I am Ashika Narayan, Director of this Sector and your boss. This is my second in command, Kim Philby," she said, motioning to the man who was still seated. He nodded again but said nothing. "Please sit down."

They did so. Sirius noticed that this table was like the one out in the entrance; it floated. 

"I would like to congratulate you on making it to the Bureau and thank you for accepting our offer. You will each be assigned a desk after you have completed basic training which will commence today after this meeting.

"Here are booklets concerning our rules," she said as she handed out thick booklets to them. "You will be tested on them in two days so you might want to get on it. I'm sure the guide we assigned you gave you the tour and instructions on getting here. You will report to the classroom at six thirty tomorrow morning. If you're late just one minute, the consequences will be harsh. You will go on active duty as soon as you have completed basic training. Your superiors will be located in your individual offices. Mr. Potter, you will be under the supervision of Amin Mohammed, and you, Mr. Black, will be under Matthew Sanders. You are not to leave this facility under any circumstance with any documents, briefcase, or simple notes and quill. Is that clear?"

She had a McGonnagal like quality about her. She spoke very formally and quickly. James and Sirius both recognized that with her position she was probably very busy.

"Yes ma'am," they said together.

"Excellent. If I'm out for some reason, Kim will be in charge. If you have no further questions for me, you are both dismissed." James and Sirius looked at each other, nodded, then started to leave.

"Oh, I have one question," Sirius said as he made an about face. "What's basic training?"

  
  


"Well look at that pretty boy!" a short burly woman yelled at Sirius. They both found themselves in the Gym with about fifteen other newbie Bureau employees shortly after their interview with Ashika. James and Sirius had been shown the locker room, given gym clothes, and told to report to Didi Khan in the Gym for the start of basic training. They assumed that someone with the name 'Didi' would be a kind women; they were wrong. Didi Khan was far from kind and cute. She was a true believer in 'no pain, no gain' as well as the infamous line 'drop down and give me twenty.' She had immediately given all of them nick names, but she seemed to be drawn to mocking Sirius more than anyone else.

"Don't worry, hon. The sweat won't damage that baby face of yours!" She had lined them up and told them to stand attention while she paced back and forth and found things about their appearance she didn't like. Her large army boots clunked with each step she took, echoing throughout the large gym. "You," she said, stopping at a young woman and pointing at her with her riding crop, "did you spill peroxide on your hair? Why's it so yellow, eh?" she yelled. The girl, James could see, looked truly crushed. Didi continued. "What happened to your ears?" she asked. 

The man shrugged as he looked at her. 

"Looks like you got pulled backwards by a rhinoceros for thirty miles!" Sirius sniggered quietly as he agreed. The man did have wide ears.

Didi heard him laugh, and she skipped all the others and went right back to Sirius. "You think you look perfect, pretty boy?" she asked.

"No, ma'am," he said flatly.

"Then why don't you wipe that cocky smile off your face and drop down and give me twenty?!"

Sirius dropped his shoulders and rolled his eyes.

"Twenty not enough for you? How about fifty?!"

Before she could assign him anymore, he dropped and started on his pushups. James tried to look the best he could, but she had a name for him too.

"Well, Specs, you like running?" she asked him. 

"Sort of," he said, thinking that it was the safest answer.

"Sort of?" she asked as she moved in closer to him. "I want an answer from you, twig boy! Yes or no! Do you like running?"

"Yes," James said.

"Great, because you get to run five laps around the track! Go now!"

James stared at her. "Why?" he asked. Her eyes popped open wide. She looked quickly at her clipboard.

"Potter, James. Operations Unit. When you tell one of your field agents to do something, will you allow them to ask why?"

"I-I don't know," he said.

"You don't know? What do you know, Potter, James? Do you know how many laps two miles is?"

"No," he said, afraid of what she was going to say next.

"Eight! Eight sweaty laps. Now go run them!" James gave her one more frightened look, and then ran to the track to start his two-mile run. "Faster, Specs!" she yelled. James could think of a number of spells he could use on her at the moment. For some reason the Crutacius curse kept floating to the top of his list. He had never ran two miles straight before; he had never run one mile straight before. He could hear her yelling at the remaining fourteen poor souls.

Sirius finished his fifty pushups and stood back up, his face redder than a cherry. He looked at James running and smirked.

"Miss him do you?" she said. She looked at the clipboard again. "Black, Sirius. What the hell kind of name is that?"

"Astronomical," he said bluntly.

"Oh really? You and Specs joined at the hip are you? Why don't you go run two miles with him? And now that you're both doing it, I want it down in ten minutes!" she yelled.

"Ten minutes? Two miles in ten minutes is impossible!"

She threw down her board, slapped her hand with her crop, and advanced on him.

"You're wasting time, pretty boy. Better get sprinting!" 

"You are really scary!" Sirius yelled at her. This was a mistake.

"A short woman with a whip scares you? Well, you're not very tough, are you? Drop down and give me twenty!"

"No. I'm an analyst, not a draft horse."

"Oh an analyst! Well, you never said that! Does it look like I care, Black, Sirius? When you got the tour of this place, did you see any fat analysts? Are you willing to go up to your future office and tell them that they can't run two miles because they're big sacks of lard!"

"No," he said weakly.

"Twenty!" she yelled. He dropped and did twenty more, thankful that he worked out regularly. After that, she made him catch up with James on the track. He was breathing heavily, and his face was pink and shiny.

"That woman is a Nazi," Sirius said as he jogged along side James.

"This is insane. How long are we supposed to do this?" he asked.

"I hope not long. How many more laps you got?"

"Six," he said miserably. They ran the rest in silence.

After the two-mile run, the entire group moved to the pool. Neither James nor Sirius was an excellent swimmer, as he never had a reason to swim, so they were nervous. Putting on the trunks was probably the most embarrassing thing in James's life. He was quick to notice that he was the thinnest and the whitest of the bunch. Sirius told him not to worry about it. Easy for him to say, James thought. Sirius had a well-defined set of abs, strong pecs, buffed biceps, and the rest of his body was just as chiseled. The six women in training with them all took a good, long look at him before they got back to their own business.

"Ten laps in the pool," Didi said, her whistle in hand. She told them to get a partner, James gravitated to Sirius, but a young German woman was asking him to partner with her. She was very attractive, James noticed. She had long blonde hair and blue eyes. She didn't speak much English either, but seeing as how the Bureau was international, she had no reason to.

James ended up with an Italian man as his partner.

"When I blow the whistle, one of you dives in and swims five laps. When you finish, tag your partner so they can have their turn. The first pair to win doesn't have to do the next exercises. James looked a Palo, who looked back at him and grinned.

"We have to win," James spoke clearly. Palo nodded and volunteered to go first.

Sirius and Palo were ready to jump in, five other swimmers standing buy. The whistle blew. Sirius was the first to dive in. His partner was beside herself with glee and jumped up and down screaming his name. Palo was in second, a very close second. 

For a while, James thought that Sirius might actually win, but he soon dwindled. He had put out most of his energy on the first laps, and when the last came around, he had to dog paddle to the finish.

Palo finished first and tagged James. He ended up belly flopping into the pool instead of diving, and it stung a lot. He was glad he was submerged for a short while; he wasn't to keen on hearing everyone laugh at him. 

It was hard work. James didn't float well. Actually, if he ever stopped, he would probably sink right to the bottom. He tried as hard as he could to get to the finish before everyone else, but he came in third behind a Korean and the woman who was partnering Sirius. She got out of the pool wet and smiling and hugged Sirius as if they'd known each other for years. Palo was disappointed but understood the loss.

"Tomorrow, it's sixteen laps!" Didi said. "Hit the showers then head to the classroom," she said as she recorded their individual times.

"I thought you said the winners got to sit out the next drill," Sirius said.

Didi looked up at him and laughed. "I lied!"

Sirius grumbled under his breath then got a towel and headed back to the locker room with James at his side.

"So who was that girl?" James asked.

"Emily," he said. "She doesn't speak much English, so that's all I know. She's a good swimmer, though, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she is." They took showers, dried, and then dressed back into the robes they wore when they arrived that morning. Afterwards, they headed to the classroom. James and Sirius sat next to each other in the middle of the room. Emily sat on the other side of Sirius and grinned at him.

Their instructor came in a few moments later. He looked to be in his late fifties. His hair was salt and pepper gray, his eyebrows were rather black, and he had very broad shoulders. He was in excellent physical condition. He took some chalk and wrote his name on the board.

"Gary Frei," Sirius said under his breath as he read it. Gary grabbed a briefcase and set it on the desk. He opened it, took out fifteen small green stones, and tossed one to each of them.

"What is this?" James asked.

Gary Frei showed them what to do with it. He put it in his ear. Then he spoke. To James he sounded English, but his words didn't match the movement of his lips.

"Translation Amulets," he said to them. "They translate any language into your own native tongue. You should always carry this with you, no matter where you go. However, you will still need to learn languages in case you do something very stupid and forget your amulet, or the person you are conversing with doesn't have one. Please take them out of your ears now." They all did so and pocketed the amulets.

"Die deutsche Sprache ist eine der schwierigeren und allgemeineren westeuropäischen Sprachen, also Sie werden alle erwaret, sie fließend zu sprechen. Gibt es irfendwelche Fragen, Damen und Harren?" he said. James and Sirius looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. James was about to ask what he said, but Sirius beat him to it.

"What did he say?" he asked.

"I have no idea. Something in German."

"That's good, James. Emily, what did he say?" he asked. She smiled at him but shrugged. "But you speak that language, what did he say?"

"Sirius, perhaps she can't put into English for you. Put the amulet in and talk to her." James hit his head with his hand and looked at Sirius as if he was the stupidest man in the world.

Sirius did so. Emily followed suit.

"Emily, what did the instructor say?"

"He said that German is one of the most common western European languages and one of the most complicated, but we all must speak it. Then he asked if we had questions."

Sirius relayed the information to James.

"We have to learn it? By when?"

"Ask him, why don't you."

James put in his amulet and raised his hand. He pointed to James.

"When should we have it mastered, sir?"

"Oh, this takes time. You also have to learn French. The other students will have to learn English, which is a very difficult language. Once you learn the basics we'll ask you to take on an Asian language such as Korean or Chinese. Is this clear?"

"Very. Thank you." James turned to Sirius to give him the information, but he was still talking to Emily. He tapped him on the shoulder. "Take out the piece," he said.

Sirius did. "What is it?"

"We learn them as we go. Why are you talking to her so much?"

"Yeah, I need your help here," he said leaning away from her and closer to him.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

"She wants to have dinner with me," he said. "It's wrong for me to say yes, isn't it?"

"What do you think, Sirius?" James asked him as if he were five years old.

"I think it's wrong. I think I need to say no. Tell her I have a girlfriend, right?"

"Yeah, that would be good," James said.

Sirius continued talking with her, though she didn't look heartbroken in any part of the conversation. The instructor ranted on about languages and cultures that needed respect and understanding from all of them. He covered some basic geography and geopolitics but didn't tell them where the IWBI was located; he said he didn't know either.

He talked for over an hour. At long last, he closed his briefcase and left. 

"Now what?" Sirius asked. James shook his head. But then the door opened again and two people entered: a tall man who looked as if he had returned from a safari and a woman who was holding...

"A falcon," James said. The class looked up instantly and paid close attention. The falcon was much smaller than an owl and much more interesting as well. It looked to be only eleven inches in height with a dark brown back and yellowish belly dotted with dark brown spots. In the center of her chest was a ruby red jewel in the shape of an oval. At the moment, the falcon was hooded.

"Good afternoon, students," the man said. He was British. "I am Nigel McCabe, and this is my lovely assistant Priya Bhan. And this is Kes. She's a Peregrine falcon, native to North America and the fastest animal in the world. I know that none of you are aware that the Bureau doesn't use owls for post but falcons such as Kes. I am here to teach you how to handle these creatures. The owl, which you are all used to, is actually one of the dumbest birds in the world. No kidding. It's quite funny that they are the symbol for wisdom and education. Falcons think more like spies in the field. They work in pairs, Peregrines. Once they've found the quarry, one of them will attack from one angle, and the other will stoop from above and knock the quarry out of the sky, usually killing from the blow alone. When the Peregrine stoops, she can reach two hundred miles per hour. And that, my friends, is fast.

"We use the falcons not just for post, but for surveillance, companionship, and long and short distance communication. One of the benefits in working in the Counterintelligence Sector is that you will all handle falcons, and some of you will own your own."

"Awesome," James said, looking at the magnificent bird. Most everyone in the room agreed.

"Now, Kes, like the falcons you will receive, is programmed to follow only my orders, as well as Priya's. The advantages of magic are beyond the wave of the wand. We can now tame the lords of the skies." Nigel signaled to Priya to remove the hood. Kes was even more beautiful than they pictured. Her head was clearly designed for rapid flight. It was small and rounded. She had dark eyes, a small yet sharp yellow beak, and a clear alertness and awareness of all the students. "She was bred from magical parent falcons who possess rare qualities. Kes can sense my emotions like a dog. She can also learn words, phrases, and even body language commands. But most impressive about her is the ability to slipstream."

A number of people seemed confused at this, as were Sirius and James.

"Let me explain. With the speed this breed already possesses, as well as the inherited magic, Kes is able to fly beyond the speed of two hundred miles per hour." He looked around the class and pointed to James. "Aren't you Byron's son?" he asked.

"Yes I am," he said.

"Well, I haven't seen you since you were about five, I'd say. We met at a Ministry dinner, and you were running around the place with your hands in the air...but I digress. Did you play Quidditch?"

James smiled. "Yeah," he said.

"Did you ever get right behind a player and fly in their air wake?"

"Sometimes, but not for very long. They moved once they knew I was there," James said, wondering where he was going with this.

"Was it easier to fly there, less work I mean."

"I suppose," James said. "Yeah, it was. There was less resistance."

"Precisely. You were flying in the slipstream. It was easier flight. The falcon, once reaching a certain speed, can project its own slipstream and fly within it. The record is back a few years, but the falcon flew from Madrid, Spain to Hartford, Connecticut in the U.S. in four hours. And that is fast, my friends. So, let's get practical, shall we? James, right?" he asked.

"Right," he said smiling. Nigel tossed him a thick, suede leather glove.

"Put it on," he said. James did so, then got up, and walked back. Priya looked into Kes's eyes, and then nodded her head towards James. Kes lunged off her hand and soared across the room to James. Everyone applauded. James brought Kes closer to him so he could look into her eyes. She stared back.

Within a few short hours, which seemed to pass very quickly, they had each held the falcon and fallen in love. Priya had demonstrated various commands: verbal and nonverbal. She showed them how to attach mail, which was much different than what they were used to. Falcons wore small jewel like stones on their chests. Nigel said it was lighter than a feather, but dead useful. Falcon post had to be written a) in code, and b) on a light parchment designed specifically for falcons. The letters, when folded, transformed into a small, clear, diamond shape stone, which would lock inside the falcon's jewel. It could only be removed by the addressee or the falcon's owner. Priya also showed them the slipstream maneuver, which they saw in a wind tunnel in the Aviary. 

After many questions had been asked and answered, Nigel and Priya hooded Kes and headed out. By this time, however, one thing was certain; they all heard a low grumbling. They were hungry.

Sirius's watch read five p.m. and they had yet to have a meal. With all the activity he hadn't had the time to think or dwell on it, but now that he was sitting in a class with fourteen other grumbling stomachs, he had to say something.

"Did anyone see a cafeteria around here? I'm starving," he said.

Voices of assent raised. Just as they were thinking nothing else could surprise them, a portal appeared where the blackboard was. They all jumped backwards. James went forward and touched it. 

"It's just like all the others," he said. "I'll go first." They nodded at him. He walked through. Like before, he ended up in a completely different place. He was in an extremely large room shaped like an ellipse. The ceiling, which was higher than that of the Hogwarts's Great Hall, wasn't charmed to mirror the night sky but was painted with scenes of heroic battles between wizards, goblins, and giants. James looked back down and stared ahead of him. He was standing on one end of the massive room, which was the size of a coliseum. There were at least two thousand people, easily accommodated, seated at hundreds of floating tabletops. There were wizards of all ages, dressed in so many different colored robes, and a long cafeteria lined all along the edge of this chamber. The food wafted to his nostrils. He turned around and saw the portal was still there. He went back through.

"Oh yeah," he said, grinning as he pulled Sirius in with him. They all stared about the room, mesmerized by its mammoth size and sheer eloquence. The fifteen of them made their way to the cafeteria which had foods from all around the world.

"Hogwarts has nothing on this place," Sirius said as he took a plate and helped himself to chow mein, pepperoni pizza, enchiladas, chicken alfredo, bouillabaisse, and anything else that would fit on his plate. After each of them had piled on massive quantities of food on their trays, all fifteen of them headed to an empty tabletop. Chairs appeared out of then air as they lay their trays down. James and Sirius sat next to each other; Palo and Emily sat close by.

"I wonder if I can show Lily this place," James said excitedly as he wolfed his steak. Sirius shared the same attitude. 

"Can you believe our luck? They chose us to work here! This is the coolest place in the world, and we work here," Sirius said. He couldn't stop smiling, nor could anyone else at the table. Once they had all finished their meals, they got to talking. Each of them put the green translation amulet into their ears, and they discussed their old schools, previous jobs, what positions they were taking here, and how thrilled they were to be accepted by such an institution.

"Ah, the newbie table," a man said as he came up to them. He had a nice face and a pleasant smile as he looked at each of them. He was about six feet tall, of good weight (which seemed to be a trend here) and had a distinct air of confidence about him. "If I may introduce myself?" he asked them. They all nodded of course. "I am Guy Burgess, the head historian in the Intelligence Sector. I'm on the second floor. I usually like to meet all of the agents and members of the Bureau and give you some sound advice. But first, who are all of you?"

Each of them stood and said their name, in their own language then sat back down. Then he went back around the table and pointed to each of them saying their name. "It's my way to remember," he said jovially. "May I join you?" he asked.

"Please," James said.

"How do you like it so far?" he asked.

"It's amazing," Sirius said with a twinkle in his eye.

"I can't wait to get started," James said.

"Have you had the benefit of meeting Didi?" Guy asked with a wink to all of them. That got them all started. Guy laughed at their re-enactment of the morning ordeal.

"I remember what she named me," he said. "It was the most embarrassing name of all the recruits."

"What was it?" someone asked.

"You promise you won't laugh?" he asked.

"No way," Sirius said. Guy smiled.

"Okay fine. You'll probably hear it from someone else anyway. She called me pinky-pants," he said. They howled with laughter.

"Why?" James asked.

"Well, I, like you James, lived in a small flat after I graduated. Well, I accidentally put my favorite red shirt with my whites and it turned all my underwear pink. I would have fixed it if I had the time or knew the spell, but I was already running late. Didi took one look at my underwear and from there on out I've been called pinky-pants. She enjoys nothing more than making fun of the new people. She's actually quite sweet once you pass her physical exam."

"What's that like?" James asked, almost wishing he hadn't.

"Tough. It changes each time. When I did it, it was a huge course. I had to run three miles, battle the trainers, climb a hill, rescue a flag, then go through it again."

"What if you don't pass?" Keiko, a Korean woman asked.

"You take it until you do. Most people who are recruited pass the first time, but I've known some who haven't. It's the first time I'd seen them cry." He took a long drink of soda and sighed.

"Why do we have to do all that?" Sirius asked. "I'm just an analyst."

"Paranoia, Sirius. Paranoia. The Director fears that the Bureau could be infiltrated one day and he wants everyone on their guard. And people who are in shape work better. They're happier, more alert, and actually perform magic better. Being in top physical condition is a must."

"How long have you been here?" James asked.

"Oh about three years. I was recruited from the Rocky Witches and Wizard Academy, in California. I fell in love with this place."

"Did you play Quidditch at all?" James asked.

"I did, actually. I was Chaser for my house team. I miss it. I've tried petitioning for us to get a team here, but we're too secretive, I guess. We do, however, get good seats for the World Cup. I know you're quite the flier, James. Captain, correct?" he said smiling.

"Yes. It was a blast. I learned a lot from that game."

"You know the Eagles aren't doing so good. There's talk that Wimbourne is looking to buy them out, seeing as how they're doing so poorly. That's why they wanted you so badly," he said.

James was about to respond to it when he stopped. "Hey, how did you know that?"

A guilty smile spread across Guy's face. "This is the intelligence world, James." He glanced at the many faces at the table, all of which were looking impressed by him. "Well, I better be off. I'll see all of you around, I'm sure. If you ever want a word, just summon me."

"One question for you, Guy," James said. "Can I bring my fiancé here?" 

"No, but you can bring your wife. It's immediate family only, meaning those who are legally yours and live under your roof. The Bureau encourages family life. As soon as you marry her, she is free to have a look around. She won't have clearance for most of the areas, but she can come here with you. It was nice meeting you all," he said, and with a last friendly wave, he left.

"That's kinda weird," Sirius said. "Such a high security place, yet you can bring people?"

"They can't see anything, though, can they," James told him. "They can just come and see."

"Yeah I guess," Sirius said.

"What do we do now?" James asked. "Do we go home or is there something else in store for us?" But nothing seemed to happen. He supposed he could ask someone, but they wouldn't know. James looked at his watch; it was five thirty. He'd been here for almost twelve hours. Surely they were finished for the day.

And at the right moment, Nyah came up to their table with her helpful smile. "Yes," she said to James, "you are free to go. But be sure to be here tomorrow at six a.m."

"Why so early?" Sirius asked.

"Only early for you, isn't it? It's six to you, but three to many others. Try to remember that when James splashes water in your face tomorrow morning," she said.

"How did you know about that?" Sirius asked.

"We keep an eye on you sometimes. We wanted to make sure you got here and stuck with the plan. No," she said looking at his horrified expression, "we don't spy on you all the time. Rest easy," she said. Sirius didn't look like he was resting easy, however. Nyah smiled to them all and left just as suddenly as she had come.

James got up and headed back to the main portal to leave. Sirius followed right behind him. 

"Here it goes," James said as he walked through. Instead of ending up in the classroom, he found himself in the Apparation chamber where everything began that day. Sirius ended up right next to him. He was grinning.

"Home, James," he said to him. And in a pop, they found themselves exactly there.

  
  


"You should have seen the place, Lily," James said excitedly when she had come over. "You walk through this gateway like thing, called a portal, and you're in a whole other room with thousands of wizards from all over the world."

"James, tell her about the falcons!" Sirius said jumping up from the couch.

"Falcons?" she asked.

"Yeah, they don't use owls, they use falcons!" Sirius said. He ended up telling her all about it as James watched her face glow.

"Can I see it?" she asked as she took James's hands and grasped them tightly.

"Yes, you can, but we have to be married first."

"I see," she said, nodding her head. "But I can see it, that's important. Was there anything you didn't like about it?" she asked.

James started in first with Didi. Sirius interjected occasionally about how she had called him 'pretty boy', which Lily found extremely amusing. But so far Didi was the only drawback to their new job, though they were sure that certain people they would be working with would have some 'snapish' qualities about them.

After the two had given her as much detail as they could, James asked her how her orientation went for her new school. She said it went well. She had met her professors, taken a tour, "Though it doesn't sound anything like the Bureau, but why would it be?" she said. She had met a few classmates she was to have and got her schedule. "Nine to three," she said. "I really lucked out. I start out with Biology 1000, then a lab, which will take forever, no doubt. But, I have to learn the basic cell functions before I can get anywhere near people."

"You don't go all week though, do you?" James asked.

"Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and lectures on Sunday. I'll be studying and cramming nonstop all other times in between. But I'm really looking forward to it," she said with a smile. 

"Well, kids, I'm off to bed. We have to get up at an ungodly hour and swim a thousand laps and run a million miles for that whistle Nazi," Sirius said as he stretched and headed off for his room. 

"Wow," she said looking around her. "This is going to be weird, all this change. Bet it'll take a while to finally get used to it. I have to talk to the caterers tomorrow, meet with the musicians, and so forth. Oh, and either I get another friend, or you have two guys with you, not three. I know we said it didn't matter earlier, but I got to thinking that it would look silly for Peter to walk down by himself," she paused. "How are Sirius and Remus anyway?" she asked.

James shook his head. "They haven't talked since. I was going to meet Remus this weekend and talk with him, but I don't know that this can be mended. We'll have to wait and see."

"You're not going to tell me what it was about, are you?" she asked.

"No. It's complicated and more between Remus and Sirius, not me...really. Anyway...I've got to get to bed. Sirius is right; we do have to get up an ungodly hour. I'm already sore from all that nonsense she had us do. I'm feeling muscles I never knew I had." He walked to the kitchen and set his rulebook on it. "I don't have time to read this thing. Is there some sort of spell so I can just know everything in this book?"

She walked over to it, flipped through the pages casually, then looked up at him. "No," she said. "If they had a spell that useful, none of us would need schooling. This book isn't so bad. I bet you can read it during the day and...other times when you're not busy. In the meantime, I think I'll give you a goodnight kiss and then be on my way. You need your beauty sleep, my young prince."

"Yeah, I do. I'll see you tomorrow night then, yes?" he asked as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"But of course. I love you," she said.

"I love you back," he said, then kissed her. He escorted her the door then kissed her again, and again until she finally said that she really did have to go.

James closed the door and went to his bedroom, taking the rulebook with him. He crashed onto his bed, opened his book, and started to read. In three minutes, the book lay open on his chest. His glasses still on his face, fully clothed, he was asleep.

  
  


Through the groaning, the lack of sudden movements, the constant yawning, and droopy eyes, James and Sirius actually made it on time to the Bureau. It could have been considered the eighth wonder of the universe. They started the day with Didi; she was a keeper of the word. She had them run, swim, lift, push, sweat, moan, and drop. She informed Sirius that if he was any prettier, he could join a group of Veela. She told James too gain weight so he wouldn't slip down a street crack. She told Emily she looked too Aryan, Palo was too friendly, and the rest of them, she complained, weren't nearly unique enough to be criticized; she made them do thirty more pushups. 

After so much torture that even Sirius couldn't stand up straight, she informed them they would all begin self-defense lessons very soon. "Oh great," Sirius said, his cheek on the floor. "Now she gets to hit us." And that she did. The following days were merciless. Didi came after them with clubs, fists, and a really powerful kick. She seemed to know Karate, Tai Kwon Doe, Judo, Boxing, and Kung Fu. How she could know and discern from them, James and Sirius didn't know. The only thing they did know was that she hit hard and often. 

"What are you, a punching bag, pretty boy!" she laughed as she knocked him down for the third time that day. He crawled off the padded mat and wondered why they padded it when the trainer hit you so hard. He found James lying spread eagle on the floor with the rest of the class.

Lily voiced her concerns each evening when she tried easing their soreness and pain. "Are they trying to kill you?" she would say to them. She and Jade would take care of them when they were incapable of it most nights. "When is this going to stop?" Lily asked as she massaged James who was very grateful.

"When we can't move," Sirius said.

Academics wise, it was much easier. James and Sirius found themselves at the top of the class and often helped the others with their geopolitics and English. They quickly noted that two Frenchmen sitting in front of them often only talked to each other when James and Sirius didn't have their translation amulets in their ears.

"Laissez-le soin aux Anglais pour tre si provoquant," one of them said after Sirius voiced his opinion about France's political leaning. James laughed at his accurate description, as well as many others. The French weren't happy with that.

"Aucun badiner. Les duex eux ressembler aux idiots totaux," the other said with a laugh. Sirius leaned over to James.

"Did you here the word 'idiots' in that sentence," he asked.

"Yes," James said with his teeth gritted. "We need to learn that language." Sirius nodded.

As time went on, everything improved. James and Sirius practiced their defense moves on each other on their days off. They picked up several books on French and German as well as 'The Falconer's Handbook," which they needed for their final in two days. And to James's delight, he found that he was gaining weight and looked more muscular than he ever had. Sirius made fun of him when he caught James shirtless doing macho moves in front of the mirror. Lily, however, didn't. She had difficulty keeping her hands off him. He didn't mind.

James met with Remus on occasion, and Remus told him he was still unemployed but continued to look. He was living with his mother; his father had moved out. He was trying very hard to be optimistic, James noticed, but everything crumbled around him.

"I haven't told Liz, but I suspect she's finally put it together," he said as they sat in the Leaky Cauldron. "She's really happy in the Ministry. I see her every now and then, in action, and she's quite good. I also couldn't help but notice that she's getting noticeable attention from other men. Men who could make her happier than me," he said before he took a long swallow of beer.

"Liz likes you, Remus. You know that," James said.

"I know, but I think she'd be happier with someone else. We're not at school anymore; we don't have the same friends anymore. Things change. I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Something will have to come along for you. Have you asked Dumbledore for a position at Hogwarts?"

He shook his head. "All the teaching positions are filled. I was thinking of moving out of the country and looking for work. Maybe I could be a bounty hunter or something. But enough about me, what's going on with you?" he asked.

James told him everything. Remus looked happy for him, but there was a tinge of envy. James could think of no one else who deserved to be jealous. Then the wedding came up. "I really wanted you and Sirius to be up there with me. I was always closer to the two of you than with Peter. I also fear that Peter might trip on someone, or rip a girl's dress. But seeing as how the two of you are no longer talking...I know it's heavy, but maybe if you guys just sat down and talked about it...I don't know. He didn't think. We were sixteen and thinking everything through wasn't a strong point of ours. We all do stupid things, Remus. That was his. He's dead sorry about it. Could you just talk with him?"

Remus finished his drink. "I'm not sure. Not yet, at least. Right now everything about Sirius is...well, he's your best friend," he said. "I'll think about it. And I'm honored that you want me up there with you. I'll try for you, James. I can't promise that we'll be friends, but I'll try."

James smiled. "Thanks," he said. "And that bounty hunter idea isn't such a bad idea, you know. They don't care who you are, as horrible as it sounds. It's a way to make money."

Remus nodded. "Thanks for coming to see me, James."

"Hey, you're my friend," he said with such a friendly smile, it made Remus want to cry.

"I know," he said. "I know.

It was the first of August. Ashika Narayan presented Sirius Black with a navy blue cloak with an embroidered flag of Great Britain on the left breast. He smiled formally, thanked her, and shook her hand. James Potter walked up next. Ashika gave him a smile, a navy blue cloak, and a handshake just as she did for the thirteen other trainees who were officially part of the International Wizard Bureau of Investigation.

A photographer took official identification pictures of them, congratulated them, and sent them to the Dining chamber for the celebration. The entire Counterintelligence sector was there to meet the group, as were some members from the Intelligence division. James could see Guy Burgess in the crowd; he gave them a friendly smile and wave.

James called him over.

"So now you're part of the team," he said. "Nothing but action from here on out. You'll be wishing for a dull moment."

"Nah, James and I never had a dull moment, not even when we were kids," Sirius said.

"Well, you'll want one. I'm a historian and I still get thrown into the mix of things. The Dark Lord gets stronger each day. It'll be hard to keep him contained or even eliminate him."

James and Sirius both nodded. "Hard, but not impossible," James said. He looked at his watch. "I've got to get going. I'll see you two tomorrow."

"You going to be out late?" Sirius asked.

"Probably. Don't wait up for me," he said jokingly.

"I won't dear. Be sure you get home after midnight and no sex," Sirius said as he waved his finger at James.

"No sex until the eighth of next month. We're getting close," he said with a wry grin, then left.

"He's getting married next month?" Guy asked Sirius.

"Yeah. He's been crazy about this girl for years now. He's never dated or thought of dating another girl in his life."

"He doesn't seem to be nervous at all. If I were getting hitched in a month I'd be sick in bed with nausea."

"That's me exactly. I can't see myself settling down with one woman for the rest of my life. I've been dating a girl for a while now, and I really like her a lot, but waking up to her every day...that's another story. James will be happy though. I know it."

"I haven't dated for a while. Don't have the time or the energy. I figure the right girl will come along at the right time. Things are too hectic right now."

Their conversation continued along these lines: girlfriends, work, and friends-the normal chitchat between people getting to know each other. Sirius mingled as best he could without James being there. Finally he bumped into Ashika, who grabbed his forearm firmly in what Sirius assumed to be her way of greeting people.

"Where is James?" she asked him.

"He has a date with Lily. I'm surprised you didn't already know."

"It must have been last minute scheduling. We'll have to work on that," she said; it didn't sound like she was joking. "Listen, I need you to talk to those people over there. They're the analysts you'll be working with. Get to know them well."

"Isn't this a party?" he asked.

"You need to meet those people. You'll be seeing them all the time." She raised her eyebrows at him, pointed at the group, and watched Sirius walk over there before she left. It was a group of about five: three women, two men. Sirius was by far the youngest of the bunch and the only British one among them. He told some jokes to break the ice, but none of them laughed. He walked away, silently cursing Lily under his breath. "This is going to be fun," he thought to himself. "At least James is right across the way."

After being bombarded by Ashika twice more, Sirius left. He entered his dark, empty flat, around nine p.m. He checked the owl post, but there was nothing of interest. He decided to get to sleep early so he undressed and showered (yes, he sang and he sang loud. Not in tune, but loud.) He walked around with an unbuttoned, white, long sleeved shirt on. He examined the empty refrigerator, made a note to tell James to go shopping then headed back to his bedroom when there was a knock on his door. He went to open it.

"Remus?" he said.

"We need to talk," he said. He wasn't smiling, nor frowning. Sirius opened the door for him, buttoned his shirt, then sat down. 

Neither of them said anything for about five minutes; they just stared at different parts of the room.

"I'm not here to get all mushy and let bygones be bygones," Remus finally said. Sirius looked into his eyes. "I'm here because a friend of ours wants us to stand with him at his wedding."

Sirius nodded. "Look, for all it's worth...I'm sorry."

Remus examined him closely. "It's not worth much. I want to be there for James because he's there for me. I don't want nor do I need you."

"You're the one who's drawing this out. I don't really know what else to do other than apologize. What I did was wrong, stupid, and inexcusable. I'm sorry, Remus. Why can't we put this behind us?"

"Because it's not that easy for me. Here's the deal: I'm civil around you from now to the wedding. After that I don't want to see you again. But for now, for a month, I can deal with you. I'm doing this for James, not you."

"Fine," Sirius said standing up and going for the door. "We'll do this for James. Forgive me or don't. The ball's in your court now. I'll see you around," he said as he pointed out the open door. Remus got up, gave him a stern look, and left.

Sirius slammed the door; his owl hooted in disapproval. He couldn't sleep now. How was he to sleep with Remus floating in his head with that vindictive look on his face? Sirius went into his room, changed into jogging apparel, and left to run around the neighborhood, maybe all of Britain if he thought he could do it.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Gregorian, Melissa," Peter said as he held her file in his hand. "Where are the G's?" he continued to mumble to himself. He opened drawer after drawer, filing away folders, taking some out, adding information to them.... He couldn't help but wonder if there was a better way to store information.

"Excuse me," someone said from behind the office counter.

Peter turned around. "Yes?" he said.

"I've been waiting here for my appointment for fifteen minutes. You think you could tell him I'm here?"

"Yes sir," Peter said. He got the information then went to tell his boss he had an appointment. "Thank you," his boss said. "You're very welcome," Peter answered with a toothy grin. Then he wrote addresses on envelopes to be sent out the next day. After that he restocked the office with inkwells, wrote new office labels, tossed documents out, and laughed at some corny jokes his boss told. 

When five o'clock rolled around, he headed back home. His mother told him off for having forgot his lunch, for leaving the hot water running in the morning, and he apparently left his room a mess. He apologized greatly to her, but she still ranted. 

Dinner was talk of recipes, his work (which she obviously found boring), her friends, her bridge game, and some new and exciting news about Quidditch. 

"Boring sport if you ask me," Mrs. Pettigrew said as her son described the weekend's games. "The ball goes back and forth all the time."

"I like it, mum," he said to her. "Wish I could have played it."

"No, dear. You might have gotten hurt. I don't want to even think about losing my only son to a sport like that." He didn't argue further. He told his mother he was going to bed, kissed her goodnight, then went.

* * * * * * *

James buttoned his white shirt, adjusted his tie, fastened his leather suede arm guards to his forearms (for the falcon's sharp talons) and adorned his cloak: navy blue. Sirius looked very similar, minus the leather guards.

"First day at work," Sirius said.

"First day. You look good."

"As do you."

"You nervous?" James asked him.

"No. You?" 

"Of course not," he lied. From here on out, he was responsible for other people's lives. There was no turning back. There was everything to be nervous about. "Okay," James said, swinging his hands about, "off we go. I'll see you in the chamber."

"Yes," Sirius said pointing at him, "the chamber it is. Have a safe trip."

"You too." With two pops, the flat was empty.

James and Sirius appeared in the Apparation chamber moments later. "Help," James said. The portal appeared: blue and wavy. Sirius heard James take a deep breath before he disappeared from the room.

He looked around the entryway, remembering his initial shock when he first saw this room. Sirius stood beside him, probably thinking the same thing. Then they pushed on. The entryway disappeared as the Bureau took shape. Today the shiny royal blue walls and dark marble floor didn't seem so sterile or foreign to him. Instead it looked more welcoming, mysterious, and exciting.

James waved to Sirius as he stopped in front of his portal. "Counterintelligence Operation Unit," it read on the bronze plaque. James ran his fingers over the words and smiled to himself. Then he took another deep cleansing breath and walked through the high security portal.

"James Potter," a woman's voice said as he stepped through. It wasn't anyone specific; it was the automated security. Now that he was ensconced into the Bureau, his name would be sounded in each room he entered.

He had never been in this room before; he hadn't been allowed. But of all the rooms he had seen, none compared to the sheer brilliance this one had. It was a large rectangular room, illuminated by a dark bluish glow, which upon further inspection came from the front. James turned to see. There was an astonishing map of the world. It had to be forty feet high at least. All the continents were black with tiny multicolored dots on some of them. The oceans shined blue. James was standing on a platform, the gargantuan map feet from him. When he made an about face, he saw that there were three stairs leading down into the Operation room. There were several levitating desks with people of all races behind them. Some were speaking into tetrahedron shaped orbs which floated above their desks. Others were furiously writing on clear parchment which he recognized as falcon post.

James stepped down into the mass. He walked slowly through, gazing around like a child in a candy shop. "Amazing," he said.

"Mr. Potter?" a Spanish woman said. James turned to face her. "Please follow me," she said. She turned and walked toward the back of the room. James followed her to yet another portal, this one looked more like rippling glass; he could see his reflection. "In here," she said, pointing to it, "are the offices. When you first get in, turn to your right and go to the door labeled 'Mohammed.' You're his new apprentice. Good luck," she said, then went back to her desk. James stepped through and found that this place was much quieter and brighter. James blinked his eyes and squinted. It was an immaculate white hallway. He turned to his right and found the door. 

An Arabic man was pacing his room, talking into his wrist, it appeared. James knocked. The man looked up at him, signaled for him to enter and take a seat, then continued on with his conversation. James decided to take a look around while he had the chance.

The small office was full of fascinating tools, artifacts, and instruments he had never seen. There was a large jewel suspended in midair on his desk; it changed color several times as James stared at it. There were two falcons on a perch to Mohammed's right: one hooded, one looking directly at him. A map of the world, an exact miniature to the one he had just seen, was on the opposite wall. There were several bookshelves on the other walls.

Amin Mohammed was a tall man, about James's height. He was very well built with broad shoulders, thick arms, and obviously muscular legs. He was also very good looking. He had a square face, athletic chin, dark eyes, and black hair and mustache, both flecked with white. He wore the same cloak as James, only his had two gold bars on the shoulders, and there was a flag of Saudi Arabia on his left breast instead of Great Britain. 

He stopped mumbling to his wrist, turned back around, and sat at his desk. "James Potter," he said with a small grin. "You're my new pain in the ass, aren't you?"

James was going to say something, but then he saw that he was smirking. He put out his hand for James to shake. "Amin Mohammed. Most people call me Tux. It's a joke that I'm sure you'll hear from someone. Now, first things first, I'm in charge until I think you're ready to run your own operation. But for now you are my assistant, apprentice, learner, student, however you want to say it. You follow my orders or people get hurt or killed. I know you're young and fresh out of school so you think you're some hotshot. Well you're not. This is real stuff, kid.

"Second, you do whatever I tell you to do no matter how crazy it sounds. If I tell you to jump, you jump. Just know that I've done this for fifteen years, and I know how to play this game.

"Third. I am considering you my right hand man. I need to be able to contact you at all times. There is no good excuse for you not to get in touch with me. If I need to send you a message, you need to get it. I've been informed that you're taking an early vacation. That's fine, but you better answer me if I call on you.

"Fourth. You do not discuss operations, nor mention names or code names of our operatives, spies, or other sources to anyone outside my presence or this office. You can't tell Sirius, Lily, not even your dog or hanging plant if you ever get one. No one. I don't care how much you trust someone; they can let it slip whether purposely or on accident.

"And lastly, this job doesn't pay well at first, as I'm sure you know. But I expect you here on time. I'll have times change on a weekly basis for security reasons. You'll never work more than ten hours; it's policy," he looked disgruntled at that. "But if I need to get a hold of you at night or whatever, you must answer me. You work five days, then three days off. It keeps things interesting around here. Is this all clear?"

"Yes," James said. 

"Excellent. Now to business," he said, getting up.

"Where did you study?" James asked. He was curious because Mohammed spoke very good English.

"Well that's a long story. I always wanted this job. We have to know and study Muggles, as well as work with them, so I studied at Princeton University in the United States. Then I came here. I studied English and Foreign Policy. It's paid off, even in a Muggle school. 

"Let's get you set up, James. You do go by James, correct?"

He was glad he asked. "Yes."

"This here is your falcon. She's one of the younger ones, but that'll make imprinting easy. She's been trained, but you'll have to be patient with her as you're the one that's knew to this." He pointed to the hooded falcon. She was slightly smaller than the other, but that didn't matter to James. She had a dark back and a chest of whitish gold, as common with her breed. The elliptical jewel on her chest was turquoise blue. James walked up to the perch, grabbed her legs with his left hand and gently placed her on his right forearm. He could feel her sharp talons even through his thick leather guard. He untied the hood with his free hand and with a little help from his teeth, then took it off.

She ruffled her head then turned quickly to face him. "She's beautiful," James said with a smile. 'And she's all mine,' he thought. He lightly ran a finger down her back, her dark eyes still locked with his.

"Amazing creatures," Mohammed said. "She'll be your best friend in no time flat. Magic breeding has made them more like dogs, really. She'll be very protective of you, will cry excited shrills when she sees you, and will never hesitate to tell you she's angry. We call that 'footing.' Mine gives me a real good squeeze with those razors when she wants my attention."

"She's wonderful. And I can get her food from the Aviary?" he asked.

"Yes. It's best if you feed her either there, or in the Gym on the track. It makes it more of a sport. When she's not flying you should keep her inside with you. One of their favorite games is waking you up in the morning to go to work.

"You'll keep office right next to me," he said pointing to the wall with the bookshelves. "But most of the time we'll be out and about in the field. Let me show you your new office anyway." He walked over to the bookshelves, tapped the wall with his wand and it vanished. The space within it was roughly the same size as his superior's. There was a desk, shelves, a map of the world, and a falcon's perch. "You'll find there's parchment, ink, and all that other stuff in your desk. You can bring in your personal things tomorrow. As of now, let's take a walk and get to know each other. I like knowing who I'm giving so much trust, as you should," he said.

"Yes sir," James replied.

"I hate all that 'sir and ma'am garbage. Just call me Tux, and you'll be James. If you think of me too much as your boss you won't be able to tell me things. I need trust from you. I need to know you, and you need to know me. This is very important. Now, take your bird and let's go." 

Tux, as he was now called (though the transition would take getting used to) showed him the offices and introduced him to some other agents. They looked in on some training field agents from a room which Tux called the 'Crow's Nest.' There you could see and observe most of the units in the Counterintelligence sector. 

Then they walked back out into the fascinating room James had entered first. 

"This is referred to as the 'War Room.' That map shows the locations of all our agents. Red dots are undercover spies, blue are civilian contacts, and green are operations headquarters, where you and I will be. Now you know why are security is so high. Imagine if someone came in her and found out where our agents are."

James looked more closely at the map, now that he knew what each dot represented. There were high concentrations of each group in high-density countries, specifically the United States, but much more in Western Europe, especially Great Britain. East Germany also had an unusually high number.

"We suspect, but don't know, that the Fortress of Shadows is near Albania."

"Fortress of Shadows?" James asked. "What's that?"

"I forget how new you are. The Fortress of Shadows is the Dark Lord's lair. It's a building of three towers all connected to each other. It's formed like a triangle, each tower identical to the next. They say it looks like a rundown castle from the outside, but inside it's a catacomb of tunnels, dungeons, secret passages, and rooms all of which are drenched in Dark magic. He's smart. Three towers makes it harder to find him, that is if he is in a tower."

"You sound as if you've seen it yourself," James said.

"No. An agent we had brought that information back. He was so good, in fact, we sent him back in there to get more intelligence. Voldemort caught on, however, and tortured him. Now he's institutionalized. We still don't know how to get there, or where it is."

"Like the Bureau," James said.

"Precisely like the Bureau. But everything human is fallible. He has a weakness, as do we. It's all about finding it."

"What's ours?" James asked. He doubted that Tux would tell him, but it was worth a shot.

"Simple. People. Our building is flawless; the security system charms are perfect; our technology is state of the art. But people, that's the problem. Haven't you wondered why I wanted you for this job? Why don't I get someone with actual experience?"

"I have actually. Lily also asked me."

"Because young minds are full of mush. No offense, but you're still naive, brash, and idealistic. You still think we can fight evil, and you're right. Someone older will have a street savvy attitude and lean one way, Voldemort's way. They're clever. They've been around the block and can fool you easily with their complicated talk. But you, you're fresh out of school, still learning, still capable of being trusted. One of our main goals in this sector is to weed out moles, and we have. But we still have some, those who are too smart to capture. Voldemort doesn't use names either. He uses code, just like us. Makes things ten times the headache. We have a list of seventeen code names. Some of them work here. We don't know which."

"So I'll meet double agents here?" James asked.

"You will. Don't trust anyone."

"Except you, right?" James asked with a smile.

"Hey, if I start acting weird or different in anyway, you have to report me. Another reason you need to get to know me. Let's continue on our way, shall we?" he said as he pointed to the portal to lead them out.

"You married?" James asked him.

"Sometimes," he said.

"Sometimes?" James asked. "How's that?"

"Well, I've been married three times. The first for beauty, the second for compatibly, and the third for love. Though I don't know how long it'll last. She complains that I'm too engrossed in my work. She thinks I love my job more than her."

"Do you?" he asked. 

"No, and yes. I do love this job, probably more than I should, but I also love her. It's more complicated than it looks. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Like your work, love your wife," James said to him. "My father told me that a good few times. He followed it too. When it comes down to it, it's just a job. A very nice, interesting, important job, yes, but still a job. Maybe you should ask yourself which you would choose if you could only have one. This place, or her?"

Tux stared into his eyes, as if searching for something. James stared right back.

"You're a lot wiser than I thought you would be. I think this will work just fine," he said. James grinned back at him, and they left the unit.

  
  


Across the hall Sirius sat inside a cubicle with a short balding man who wore thick glasses. He was fumbling around his desk for something; Sirius didn't know.

"Here it is," he said pulling out a file. He took out a picture, flipped it onto the wall, and expanded it to a greater size. It was a photo of a couple walking through the park. "I'm giving you one minute to tell me about this picture. What do you see?" he asked.

"Two people holding hands in the park," Sirius said as if it was obvious. 

"You're thinking like a civilian. I need you to pull anything you can from this photo. What do you see?" he asked again. Sirius willed himself to see something other than a man and woman holding hands in a park, but nothing else popped out.

"It's a couple, holding hands and walking through a park," Sirius said again.

"Okay. We all look at the obvious first off, so let's start there. What can you tell me about this couple? Are they married, single, what?"

Sirius leaned in closer to the picture. "Single," he said. "No wedding bands."

"Good. What else?"

"Well, they look to be about the same age. Um...they're Muggles."

"Anything else?" he asked. Sirius shook his head.

"Nothing. What do you see?"

"You need to look beyond the center of the photograph. But let's start there; it's a good lesson. These people are not married to each other, but the man is married. Look closer. The left hand is scratching his nose. We can see the ring finger." He zoomed in onto the picture. "You see that? There's a light spot where he ring would be. We can tell from the lightness that he's removed it recently. Now look at his face. He looks anxious and cautious, doesn't he?"

"Yeah," Sirius said as he leaned closer.

"He's got a nice hair cut, he's wearing expensive shoes and a nice suit. He's a business man and probably affluent. Now look at her. She's wearing a simple sweater, but it tells us a lot. You see her stomach? It's loose, and her breasts are larger than should be for a woman her size. She's just given birth, probably his baby. But it wasn't her first child. See her wrist? You can see a macaroni noodle bracelet that her five or six year old made her. What does she do for a living, Sirius?"

He looked at the picture, impressed by how much you could learn. "She's a...she's an artist," he said.

"How do you know that?" he asked with a smile. Sirius touched the photo to zoom in on her.

"She's got paint under her nails, as well as some here on her sweater."

"Excellent. Now you're starting to think. Now let's move away from this couple. Ignore them and look around."

"There are two kids here," he said. "A tall man over there. He's reading a letter. Um...that's it."

"So you have to ask yourself, why are they all here? You see the kids? They're standing up straight and still. When was the last time you saw two kids that age standing still in a park? They're looking at something, in the same direction as this man that's having an affair. But the guy reading the letter, he's not paying attention. Why? Why doesn't he see what the three other people see? Why isn't the woman looking?"

"She's seen it before? She's familiar with it...I'm not sure, I don't know what they're seeing," Sirius said. "Could be anything."

"No, not likely. Look at this tree," he said pointing to a tree branch. "Owl droppings. If we zoom in we see they're still wet. But it's noon. Normal owls don't fly during the day. This is recent. Now what do you see?"

A light turned on in Sirius's head. "It delivered a letter to this man. He's a wizard reading owl post. It's noon, yet the couple is casting two shadows: one which is directly below them, and one that goes way off to the right. There's another light source, external, coming from the left. The man and the children can see it. The wizard reading the letter is familiar with it, as is the woman. Her dressing style, it's funny. She could use that excuse because she's an artist as the trend is to stand out. But because she's not looking at whatever the other three are seeing, we know she's a witch."

"Now you're thinking like an analyst. So, we've got a married man having an affair with a single mother who also happens to be a witch. The two children are looking at the same thing the man it, but it's so common to the two wizards, that they don't even look up. Does the man look as if this sight frightens him?"

"No, he just looks interested. He knows his girlfriend is magical. It's not a big deal to him, but it still fascinates him. So what's the source of light?" he asked.

"Exactly. What is the source of light? Are you familiar with any friendly spells which cast so much light in midday that another shadow appears?"

"No," Sirius said.

"So the two wizards-"

"Are Dark wizards. All of this from a simple photo," Sirius said, smiling.

"There is no such thing as a simple photo. We'll get thousands of pictures in here. Some of them move, but many of them are frozen in time. You need to be able to recognize the small things. It's not just a couple; it's a conspiracy. But to most people it means nothing. When we get audio, or we intercept letters, you have to be able to listen or read what's not obviously there. Listen to the audio first, the conversation that is, then ignore it. Listen for other voices, sounds, bells, cars, anything. Many of the letters we get are coded as well. There are hidden messages inside the letter. We've even gotten some songs with morse code hidden in the drum beat."

"This job is going to make me paranoid," Sirius said, laughing.

"Just wait until we study interrogations. For example, who was the first woman you slept with?" he asked suddenly. Sirius frowned at him, leaned back in his chair, and folded his arms. "Excellent."

"What's excellent?" Sirius asked.

"That posture. You leaned back and crossed your arms. That tells me you know the truth but you won't give it to me. Actions speak louder than words. I can probably guess who the woman is based on your reaction."

"No you couldn't," he said.

"You want to put a wager on that?"

"No," Sirius said dully. "What else is there to know?"

"Plenty. I'll teach you all the right questions to ask, everything you need to look at, how you can tell if someone's lying, and so on."

"I'll know when people are lying?" Sirius asked with enthusiasm.

"It's essential. Most liars don't look you in the eye all the time, or they raise their brows too much, look to one side of their brain...so many things. Some liars are very good at it and actually convince themselves that it's truth. That's how they slip away from it."

  
  


Sirius spent the rest of the day being fascinated by all the ways to read information, all of which was extremely interesting. He was told not to discuss the information with anyone outside the Counterintelligence sector. He was allowed to talk to James about it, as James would be handing over information to that department. He was thankful for this.

He walked out of the room, which was simple yet functional. There were many cubicles, each equipped with a photo enlargement board. For now, he was told, he would be working closely with Matthew Sanders. 

He decided to check the track and see if James was still there. He was. There were also other members of the Bureau getting their workout, but James was on the grassy center of the track with his new falcon. Sirius came up next to him. "Wish I could have one of those," he said as he nodded to the falcon which rested on James's arm.

"She's amazing. Been watching me all day. I came here to feed her, but I'm not sure I want to watch."

"It's nature, James. She'd be doing it if she was in the wild. You want me to release the dove?"

"Would you?" he asked with a steady smile.

"Yeah. Here he goes," Sirius said as he put his hand in a wooden crate and drew out a struggling dove. He threw it in the air and watched if fly away.

"Go get him," James said to his falcon then thrust her into the air. She flapped her wings until she got higher than the dove, who landed back on the grass somehow unaware that it was being hunted. Sirius ran towards the dove to get it to fly, which it did though not for long. James's falcon dived so fast, she looked like a brown streak. A tuft of feathers flew into the air as the dove was struck with such force that it hit the ground then bounced.

"They usually don't strike the first time. She's a good one," Sirius said. James nodded. The falcon flew down to her prey and began to feast.

"Good first day?" James asked him.

"I think so," Sirus said grinning. "You?"

"I think I'll like it here. I'll have to start a hobby with Lily though. I can't talk work with her, or you for that matter."

"Well, we can discuss some stuff. Lily will be starting school soon anyways. I'm sure she'll talk about that to you. Besides, you two can talk about nothing yet you're somehow entertained. It's just like us. Nothing could be funny, yet we were laughing."

"Put that on a t-shirt," James said.

"What are you going to name her?" Sirius asked as he nodded towards the bird.

"I was thinking Artemis," he said. "It seems to suit her, don't you think?"

"I think Nimbus, the owl, will be jealous. Nimbus and Artemis. They rhyme."

"Everything has changed. This time last year we hadn't a care in the world. Now look at us."

Sirius looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, now look at us."


	25. A New Era

***The Marauder Chronicles; the End of Innocence, is a fan fiction. Main characters belong to J.K. Rowling, while other characters and the concept of the IWBI belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended.***

Author's note: sorry it took so long. I had it done a little bit ago, but my editor was very busy. Now before you ask me tons of questions, which I love anyway, but I know you'll probably be wondering 'how did she come up with this,' or 'can this possibly be?' My answer, which will make sense only upon completion of this chapter, is yes, it can. I have done much research for this story and for this chapter I have done the most. But for the most radical concept of this one, I had to look up into one of Rowling's novels to make sure the numbers are correct...they are. One is missing...that's I will say about that. Also, this is my fan fiction and I can do with it what I wish. I have few limits.

It also took me a bit longer because I had to find some procedures for certain *rituals* and certain modes of transportation. Not to mention that I have also started making inquiries, doing some research, getting familiar with a very large concept which will hit this story in about two chapters from now, I believe, unless I make them longer or shorter. But you will be happy to know, that I am about seven pages in to the chapter 26. 

I have also started a yahoo! group by the name "The Marauder Chronicles." It is still under construction, but please join. As an incentive, I will be posting some hints, previews, and fan art, yes I can draw, on the page and you are also welcome to do so. You don't need a Yahoo Address to join, I don't think. Happy trails, this is the best cliff hanger yet!

Two: A New Era

Bright, warm sunlight poured into the large flat and onto the rich wood floors. Standing in the living room, one could hear the sound of doors being opened repeatedly, windows being locked and unlocked, and the occasional intermittent "Hmmm" after finger tapping.

"So...what do you think?" a short balding man with glasses asked. He held a file in one hand, an organizer in the other.

Lily spun around to face him. She had her finger in her mouth, chewing the nail. James walked about looking up, down, and to the side with his hands casually in his jean pockets. Lily turned back to the kitchen and ran her hands over the island.

"Well," James said with a sigh, "it's a bit pricey for such an inconvenient location." He turned to look at the realtor and smirked.

"The price could come down a smidgen," he suggested, as he gazed into the file.

"A smidgen? How much would that be?" James asked.

"Oh say...thirty pounds less a month?" he said.

James walked toward him with an irksome look. "Fifty less," he said.

"Thirty-five less," the realtor said. Lily smirked.

"Forty," James said. The realtor nodded his head. 

"I'll ask the landlord," he said, and he left. Lily jumped up and ran into James's open arms.

"It's perfect!" she yelled. She held him tight as he spun around excitedly.

"Now we have to look uninterested when the landlord comes up with the realtor, right?" he said to her politely but formally.

She put her hands to her smiling mouth, tried to stop her feet from dancing, and relaxed. "Right," she said. As James predicted, both the realtor and landlord came back in. James did some haggling with them; Lily crossed her fingers behind her back. 

"Forty less, or we walk," he said. Lily went over to James and grasped his hand.

The landlord made some thoughtful clicks with his teeth. "Deal," he said. Lily tried as hard as she possibly could to keep both feet on the ground. "No pets, no parties, and no teenage bands, got me kids?" he said.

"Not a problem," James said, though the thought of Artemis, Nimbus, and Snowball (Lily's owl) crossed his mind. But they weren't really pets...they were more like necessities. "Could you give us some time to look at the place once more before we take the plunge?" he asked. They both nodded and left. Lily started jumping around and did several cartwheels in the large living area.

"We have a place to live!" she squealed. James laughed. "The sofa is going here," she said standing in an area facing the fireplace. "The king-of-the-house chair I'm going to have to get you, will go here," she said smiling at him. "Let's go and arrange the...bedroom," she said slyly. She grabbed him by the hand and dragged him inside. They had a walk-in closet and a large bathroom. "The bed," she said importantly, "goes here. Chest of drawers go here and here." She ran out of the room and yelled at James. "And the guest room," she said loudly, "will be adorned in fresh flowers!"

"Do I have a say in any of this?" he asked, smirking.

"Yeah," she said, coming back into the room. "You can help decide everything. I get the final say in the decorating...that is unless you want the job," she said, as she wrapped her arms around him.

"No, I trust you for that," he said, brushing her hair out of her face then kissing her. "When is it that we have to stop seeing each other?" he asked, moving away from her lips to her neck.

"Couple of weeks," she said. 

"That'll be tough," he said.

"Yeah, but worth it in the end. We should go sign those papers," she said, drawing away from him and taking his hands. "Our home as the cute married couple. We should get a mat that says 'Welcome,'" she said with a giggle.

"I like 'Go away' better. We'll work on that. Now off to sign, sign, and sign some more. I'm so glad your father is paying for your school."

They walked out of the apartment, hand in hand, to the office to rent their first home. Lily spent the rest of the day telling everyone she knew about their newly acquired apartment. She then scheduled days of furniture shopping with Jade and Liz. James declined the invite but told Lily to remember that a man would also be living with her. "So keep the cutsie pootsie stuff to a minimum. Nothing pink, nothing frilly, and absolutely no lace," he said to her before she left. She promised she'd behave.

Artemis slipstreamed through James and Sirius's flat later that day. James had given her free reign to the park down the streets (whose pigeons were getting thinner each day Artemis hunted there) because something about seeing a pigeon's feathers fly off it's body as his bird stuck it upset his stomach. Today, however, she was carrying a dead gray pigeon in her talons. She dropped it on James's lap and then landed on the top of his chair.

"Awww," Sirius said sarcastically, "she's showing Daddy her catch. Isn't that sweet?"

"Isn't it though?" he said with a funny expression. He picked up the dead bird by the legs and handed it back to his falcon. "You have it," he told her. "I won't be able to eat anything ever again, but please, you go right ahead to your lunch." She took the head by her sharp yellow beak, then fluttered down to his knee where she tore her lunch apart. "That's nice," he said.

"She likes you," Sirius said with a grand smile. "It's only nature."

"Yeah many things are only nature, but it doesn't mean I have to enjoy watching it. She's gonna get bird guts all over the place."

"Who cares? You won't even be living here in a month. Don't worry about it. I wish I could have one."

"You have your owl, though."

"Not nearly as cool. So," he said in a tone that signified the subject change, "getting married in three weeks, aren't we? Nervous?"

James smirked but shook his head. "Not yet."

"No second thoughts? No 'I've never even dated anyone else, or thought of dating anyone else. What if she's not my match?' None of those thoughts have filtered into that brain of yours?"

"No," James said firmly. "I know it's the right thing. Don't you think it would be weird for me to marry anyone else? I've always had my eye on her, so leave me be. She's the one, Sirius, I've known it for years, and so have you."

"I'm just trying to make conversation. Have you decided about the ring issue? Are you going to give it to me or what?"

"I'm afraid you'll forget it," James said with a quick smile.

"Ouch," Sirius said back. "I won't. Give me something to do other than tell you to ditch her and run to Iceland."

"I'll give it to you," he said closing his eyes and leaning back into his chair.

"Good. You know, we should do something before you take the plunge."

"Like what?" he asked.

"Something without Lily. We should go to a match or something and stay out late, because this will be one of the last times."

"We could do that. I don't know if anyone's playing today, but we can still go somewhere. Let me check the Prophet for game listings." He got up and picked up the paper. The front-page headline read: "Death Eaters plunder Muggle town!" Under it were pictures of a town with buildings in smolders. James read it briskly. He found phrases such as "Eleven murdered" and "City church is now nothing but ash," but the most disturbing was "Muggle children subjected to Cruciatus Curse; now in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies." James shook his head and sighed. Why won't he stop? he thought. There was nothing to this, no point in it all other than scaring everyone. He gained nothing from Muggle killings. But James knew it was merely a sport for them. He suddenly didn't feel up to a Quidditch match.

Sirius came back into the room with his light jacket and a grin. "Well?" he asked.

James tossed the paper to him. Sirius read; James didn't take pleasure in watching his face drop.

"My God," he said solemnly. "What a monster. Children is crossing the line." 

James agreed. What kind of danger could a child possibly possess against them? Sirius threw the paper down angrily, rested his hands on his hips, and walked to the window. "You know what really scares me?" he said.

"What?" James asked.

"They're everywhere. His ranks increase with each day. We probably know some, but don't even know they're his minion."

James mumbled and nodded.  
  


Lily was to meet Jade and Liz in a common Muggle furniture store in Norfolk. She told them to wear appropriate clothing so they didn't draw extra attention to themselves. She was wearing a light sweater, blue jeans, and had her hair up in a neat ponytail. Her purse was slung around her left shoulder; her right arm swayed as she moved.

A cool breeze swept her face and a prickling sensation crawled on the back of her neck. She turned around quickly. A man had been looking at her, but he, too turned when Lily felt him stare. 

"Excuse me," a woman said, as she bumped into Lily to get by.

"Sorry," she said, as she looked at the woman. When she turned to face the man again, however, he had disappeared. She scoured the crowd for him, but he was gone. Maybe I'm just imagining things, she thought. Only a wizard could disappear that quickly.

Jade and Liz were both standing in front of the shop waiting for her. They smiled and walked to greet her.

The actual shopping was fun for them but boring to discuss so I won't bother. However, interesting things did take place. Liz and Jade were bickering about what color sofa was better while Lily looked at a leather recliner for James. She sat in it and closed her eyes as she tried to think of James sitting there. Upon opening them, she witnessed a rather bizarre scene. Two men, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, were silently arguing. She could only see one of their faces as the other had his back turned to her. Lily concentrated on hearing what they were saying, but they were speaking a different tongue. Why would foreigners be in an English furniture store? That was interesting. She got up and went to Liz and Jade.

"Hey," she said with half a smile, "what do you two think about those guys?" she asked, pointing to the men over her back.

Liz tightened her lips. "What guys, Lily?" she asked. Lily sniggered. She turned around quickly.

"Those-" but they were gone. "There were two foreigners over there. They were talking-over there-you didn't see them?"

Liz and Jade looked at each other then back to Lily. "No," they said.

"But-"

"Are you feeling alright? Is this making you nervous?" Jade asked.

"I'm fine. Let's just pretend I never asked you, okay?"

They nodded slowly then when back to falling on beds and couches.   
  


....September 8, 1978....

In a small, clean, white building which rested in the middle of a beautiful, green garden full of multicolored flowers, there was a woman, a woman who was no longer a baby, no longer a child, no longer alone. She stood calmly and silently in front of a mirror, her arms resting at her side; her hands occasionally smoothed the white silk beneath them. Two girls dressed in blue hung about her. One fitted a veil onto the woman's dark red hair, the other fiddled with the white gown.

A father sat in a chair facing the woman. He smiled benignly at her, though she wasn't looking at him. He thought of her first day into the world, the first day she walked, her first words. He remembered how she looked at him when he would tie her shoe, how she would laugh when he tickled her, how she would say, "I love you daddy," when he tucked her into bed. He saw her first day of school, her first family portrait that was drawn in blue and pink crayon. He would never forget her happiness when she got that letter, her tears when she left on the train, her running jump into his arms when she came back from her first year.

He remembered his soft chuckle when she mentioned a boy she liked, then his shock when he saw a ring, and a pang of fear when he saw the boy who'd given it to her, the boy who would take her away. The father heaved a sigh and looked back up at his baby girl, his princess, through his teary eyes. Eighteen years, he thought, don't they go by in a blink? 

A mother sat next to him, too emotional to utter a simple word. She grabbed her husband's hand and smiled at him. He smiled back.

A girl dressed in a blue, pulled the veil over the woman's face and smiled at her. She grinned back then turned from to the mirror and faced her parents. Her dress was gorgeous; it was sleeveless, so it cropped just under her shoulders. It fanned out at the waist, giving it a bell affect. Her hair was up in an elegant bun; the veil attached at the base of the knob.

"What do you think?" she asked, as she spun around to show her crying parents. They were lost for words. She smiled and almost laughed, not at them but at the happiness that was swelling inside her like a balloon.

In the same building down the hall, a man paced a room and mumbled words of meaning under his breath. He was dressed in a formal black suit, much like a Muggle Tuxedo, a neat, black robe over it. One of his friends smiled at him, saying everything would be fine and run smoothly. The man ignored him and tried focusing on his vows. There was a knock at the door.

He walked over and opened it. "There you are! I've been worried about you!"

"James, relax. I was here three seconds ago, remember?" Sirius asked.

"It was only three seconds? You do have the ring don't you?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's right here," he said, taking it from his pocket. "Don't worry about it."

"I'm sweating," James said. "All over. I can't make it stop. What if I start to smell?"

"Stop panicking," Sirius said, as he adjusted the boutonniere on his friend's suit. "You'll be fine."

"I think I'm having second thoughts," he said. Remus and Sirius took no heed. "I've never dated another girl. What if she's not the one? What if I'm making a mistake? I'm only eighteen, that's too young to get married."

"You're just repeating everything I've said to you," Sirius said calmly. "Remember what you told me: you've always been quite taken by her, you've never thought of any other girl, you'll always love Lily. Now, let's try fixing this hair of yours," Sirius said, as he whipped out an extraordinary comb. Sirius tried it on James, but the hair still stood in funny directions.

"Don't bother with it," James said. "What time is it Remus?"

"Five minutes 'til," he said, looking at his watch.

"Oh," James said, closing his eyes. And at that moment, the wedding planner peeked in through his door. 

"Is the groom ready?" she asked him. The groom. That sounded very official and important. It was hard to believe this was real. He had thought about this day for so long, and it was finally here. He was going to be a husband in a very short time. A husband. That word also held so much meaning to him, a meaning that hadn't been there before.

"Yes," he said. "I'm ready. Are you two ready?" he asked Sirius and Remus.

"You bet," Sirius said to him. The three of them walked out of the building together. They would slip into the front by the side garden. Weeping willows lined the way; their branches draped the green grass that made their floor. Once they rounded those, James saw the garden for the second time. The minister for the wedding was standing ready, checking over his notes. He was standing in front of a white wicker archway, adorned with beautiful blossoming flowers which seemed to have woven themselves into the arch. In front of him were the guests, sitting on white benches under light shadows cast by the willows. James saw Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor McGonnagal, Hagrid, and Peter in his section; they were all smiling at him. Amin Mohammed and his wife were also there, as well as Guy Burgess. 

James took his position. Sirius stood to his left, Remus next to him. James stared around at the scenery. Hydrangeas of bluish purple and white were scattered all over. Roses of pink, yellow, and white were spotted in a very un-orderly fashion around the garden.

"You okay?" Sirius mumbled to him.

"Sure," James said. Sure. His hands were sweaty, his heart was ready to explode, and if he kept it up he would surely develop a twitch in his eye. 

Wizard weddings were not that different from Muggle ones. The only real difference was a charm set on the garden to make it cooler and the sun less harsh. James was thankful for that. The Muggle guests also paid no heed to the wizards in robes in James's section. This wasn't coincidence. But other than that, it was the same. There was no need to add further magic; the love between the couple to be married was by far enough. 

The band to James's right started to play; the wedding was going to begin. Heads turned to the back to see the first of the procession: it was Liz. Remus smiled slightly at the sight of her. Her strawberry blonde hair was in neat curls which hung around her doll like face. Jade followed closely behind her. Sirius had never seen her look so good. Her long hair was also in curls, but unlike Liz's, hers were shiny and black. She gave a quick glance to Sirius then stood beside Liz and faced the guests. 

She would be coming soon, James thought. A small Asian girl, no more than four years old, dressed in a very fluffy and frilly white dress walked down next, tossing pink rose petals every step. Jade smiled especially brightly; it was her cousin. She was the cutest girl anyone had seen; her short hair framed her beautiful round face, which was smiling sweetly.

And then the band struck that famous chord everyone has heard; Here Comes the Bride. James took a deep breath and didn't release it. Everyone stood up and turned their heads to the back. 

Mr. Evans was walking slowly with Lily on his arm. She moved like a goddess in a cool breeze. Her veil covered her face, though it could still be seen. 

James let his breath drop into a relaxed sigh. Sirius could see James smile in the corner of his eye. Lily saw him too; she beamed. They had been separated for the past week, and now they were brought together. James took a few steps forward to take her from Mr. Evans.

"Thank you," he whispered to him. Mr. Evans nodded with a slight grin. Lily took her place, looked up at James and winked. They walked forward together. It was time.

"Dearly Beloved," the minister began. "We are gathered here today to witness the joining of Lily Mary Evans and James Byron Potter in holy matrimony. In presenting yourselves here today to be joined in this most holy union, you perform an act of faith. This faith can grow, mature, and endure, but only if you both determine to make it so. For a lasting and growing love is never automatic, not guaranteed by any ceremony. It is only the power of your love which can guide you through life.

"If you would have the foundation of your union be the love you share for each other, not just at this moment, but for all the days ahead, then cherish the hopes and dreams you bring here today. Resolve that your love will never be blotted out by the commonplace nor blurred by the mundane in life. Faults will appear where now you find contentment, and wonder can be crushed by the routine of daily living. But in each other may you always find adventure.

"Devotion, joy, and love can grow only if you nurture them together. Stand fast in that hope and confidence, believing in your shared future just as strongly as you believe in yourselves and in each other today. Only in this spirit can you create a partnership which will strengthen and sustain you for all the days of your lives."

James took hold of her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. He could feel her happiness radiating.

"If there is anyone among you who thinks these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace," he said. No one objected. Then he read a short reading. It went like this:

Love is the simplest of all earthly things.

It needs no grandeur of celestial trust

In more than what it is, no holy wings:

It stands with honest feet in honest dust.

And as the body's blossoming in clear air

Of trustfulness, and joyance when alone

Two mortals pass beyond the hour's despair

And claim that Paradise which is their own.

Amid a universe of sweat and blood,

Beyond the glooms of all the nations' hate,

Lovers, forgetful of the poisoned mood

Of the loud world, in secret ere too late

A gentle sacrament may celebrate

Before their private altar of the good.

James and Lily smiled to themselves. It had taken them forever to find a passage they liked, but this one screamed at them. The minister nodded to each of them to face each other.

"James," he said, "do you come before this gathering of friends and family to proclaim your love and devotion for Lily? Do you promise to love her, respect her, affirm her during the times of joy and hardship? Do you commit yourself to share your feelings of happiness and sadness with her? Do you pledge to remain faithful to her till death do you part?"

"I do," he said with a soft smile to her.

"Lily," the minister said, now looking to her, "do you come before this gathering of friends and family to proclaim your love and devotion for James? Do you promise to love him, respect him, affirm him during the times of joy and hardship? Do you commit yourself to share your feelings of happiness and sadness with him? Do you pledge to remain faithful to him till death do you part?"

"I do," she said back. She squeezed his hands.

"James, will you now look into Lily's eyes and into her heart and repeat after me?"

Well, he did of course, but why do we want to hear the minister first. Don't you love written word?

"I commit my life to your partnership in marriage. I promise to comfort you, to encourage you in all walks of life. I promise to express my thoughts and emotions to you and to listen to you in times of joy and in times of sorrow. Lily, I love you; you are my closest friend. Will you let me share my life and all that I am with you?"

"I will," she said. Then it was her turn; they never broke eye contact and hardly blinked.

"I commit my life to your partnership in marriage. I promise to comfort you, to encourage you in all walks of life. I promise to express my thoughts and emotions to you and to listen to you in times of joy and in times of sorrow. James, I love you; you are my closest friend. Will you let me share my life and all that I am with you?"

"I will," he replied.

"From the earliest times," the minister started again; Sirius and Jade both reached for the rings, "the circle has been a symbol of completeness and of committed love. An unbroken and never ending circle is a commitment of love that is eternal. As often as either of you looks at this ring, I hope that you will be reminded of the commitment to love each other, which you have made today."

Sirius passed the ring to James.

"I, James, give to you, Lily, this ring as a symbol of my commitment to love, honor, and respect you for as long as I live." He slipped the ring onto her finger, which now held two: the three diamond engagement ring and now his gold band. Jade gave Lily the ring.

"I, Lily, give to you, James, this ring as a symbol of my commitment to love, honor, and respect you for as long as I live." James tried to keep a straight face as she slipped it on his finger. When she was done, she held his hands.

"This is a moment of celebration, but let it also be a moment of dedication," the minister said to the congregation. "The world does an excellent job of reminding us of how fragile we all are. Individuals are fragile; relationships are fragile too. Every marriage needs he love, nurture, and support of a network of friends and family. On this wedding day I ask you not only to be friends of Lily or James, but friends of Lily and James together.

"In the moment of silence that follows, I ask each of you, in your own way to confer a silent prayer, blessing, wish or hope upon this wedding."

Everyone in the congregation closed their eyes; some bowed their heads.

"May the love you have found grow in meaning and strength until its beauty is shown in a common devotion to all that is compassionate and life-giving. May the flow of your love help brighten the face of the earth. May the source of all love touch and bless us and grace our lives with color and courage," he said silently, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

They each knew what was coming next, the best part.

"By the powers vested within me," he said as he raised his right hand to them. "I now proclaim you husband and wife. James, you may now kiss the bride."

He couldn't help but give the biggest grin he had. Lily cupped his elbows as he lifted her veil over her head. He pulled her towards him, arms around waist. She encircled his shoulders and lifted her head to his and kissed him.

With the tiniest of tears, ones James would never see in his life, Sirius started the applause. Jade's eyes were glistening, but no one was in a state like Mr. Evans, who had just seen his girl grow into a woman right before his eyes. Everyone was clapping and standing when James and Lily finally broke apart.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the minister said, "I present to you James and Lily Potter."

"We're married," James said to Lily with the brightest of eyes. She couldn't stop grinning but nodded.

They both started down the aisle, cheering and clapping pouring in from both sides.

Sirius took this time to silently wipe the small tears from his eyes; he didn't want anyone to see him crying.

"And the new era begins," Remus said with a formal smile to Sirius. Jade, teary-eyed, took Sirius's arm then started down the aisle after Lily and James. Remus and Liz followed them.

In the small entrance room of the garden room, Lily lost all dignity and jumped into her new husband's arms. He swung her around and around saying "I love you," repeatedly in her ear. 

"There they are!" their friends said as they came in. "Congratulations!" they all said. Sirius gave a back-slapping-man-hug to James, and a friendly kiss on the cheek to Lily. Remus followed suit. Jade had silent tears but hugged everyone she could. Soon, the entire congregation was moving through the doors, offering congratulations and blessings to Lily and James.

Jade wasn't the only one in tears. Professor McGonnagal, whom none of them had seen even blush, was crying freely. Mr. Evans had since dried his face and was trying to stand straight and proud.

After James and Lily had thanked everyone and been congratulated, the wedding procession went back into the garden for pictures.

"It finally happened," Sirius said to them. "I am glad to say that I was the one to introduce the two of you," he said smiling.

"Okay, where's the best man?" the photographer said. Sirius raised his hand. "Please stand next to the groom and smile," he said casually. Sirius gladly obeyed and stood next to James.

"You pose pictures like no one I know, Sirius," James said.

"You think I'm a camera hog, do you?" he asked with a jovial smile.

Lily took James's arm, and he looked back towards the camera. "I don't think, Sirius. I know," he said with a smile. Sirius grinned widely and laughed quietly just as the camera clicked.

"I think I blinked," Sirius said as he batted his eyes after the flash. "Hopefully no one important will see that picture."

"The picture will move you stupid prat," James said quietly. "You won't always have your eyes closed."

"Well," Sirius said, trying to look offended. "The pictures, I happen to know, reflect upon personality and-"

"Sirius, be quiet and let us finish the pictures will you?" James said, as he encircled Lily with his arms. Sirius saw that Lily looked so happy, happier than he'd had ever seen her before. He left them to their picture taking and went outside to the gathered crowd.

"Okay," he said to them, "I hope you have tons of rice to pelt at them when they come out." A black limo was waiting in the drive, cans strewn on the back bumper, which would emit sparks of assorted colors when they would bounce on the road. "Just Married" was written in flashing white on the back window.

After a few minutes, James and Lily came out with smiling faces. They were bombarded with rice from all sides. James did his best to shield Lily from it all, but she was still getting hit, laughing hysterically, but still being bolted. The entire congregation was yelling, laughing, and cheering at them. The chauffeur opened the back door and they leapt inside. He walked back to his driver side, got in, and drove off. Lily and James waved to them all through the back window.

The reception that followed was an enjoyable affair. Lily was, of course, the center of all attention. After the formalities had been taken care of (the wedding line, all presents being left on the table) everyone sat down with wine glasses clinking as the bride and groom entered and sat at the head table. After the food had been served, more clinking began. James and Lily kissed, as requested, and the congregation clapped.

"Alright!" Sirius said loudly as he got up with his glass in hand. "I need silence for my concentration." James grinned. "I of course knew right away when I was made best man, which was over a year ago I might add, that I would have to give a little speech. I spent countless hours thinking for the right words to say, but only comical phrases like 'you two are crazy,' kept popping into my mind. But, and I will tell you this over the years, that is exactly what you two are. I wish to tell everyone here that I saw these two wonderful people meet, and it was magic at its best. We all knew, the entire school knew, that James and Lily," he said looking down at them, "were made for each other. Whether it be by destiny or compatibility, they are perfect for one another. Like I said, both of you are crazy, and I'll never think otherwise, but you're crazy about each other, and that is special.

"It seems inappropriate to wish for things I know you'll have such as happiness, endless love, and a good partnership. But I will anyway.

"James, you are my best and greatest friend and always will be. I know you'll be blissful with Lily, for you always have been.

"And as for you Lily," he raised his eyebrows and smiled devilishly, "I wish for you patience, because James is, as you know, extremely stubborn and a bit obsessive. Not to mention," he said over the subtle laughter, "impossible not to love. He doesn't go a second without thinking of you, Lily. Trust me, I know. I had to hear about you for seven years straight, all good things but for seven years, and I'm sure it won't stop."

He raised his glass, "I love you guys, and wish you all the happiness and love that there is in this world."

Everyone applauded as he sat down next to James.

"That was wonderful," Lily said to him. Sirius could see her eyes glistening which made his heart a little lighter.

"I'll remember how unkind you were to me for your wedding, Sirius," James said jovially with a grin.

"Oh I'm so scared," Sirius retorted. Other speeches were given throughout dinner, including Mr. Evans. His wasn't very clear. He stood up and called for silence, looked down at Lily and looked like he was going to talk, but he was choked with tears. The words "Proud, love, and happy" could be discerned, but the others were muffled. Mrs. Evans couldn't even stand up to say anything.

After everyone finished with dinner, and James and Lily had kissed at least twenty times upon request, they had their first dance. Lily was quite surprised with how well he did; James had made Sirius teach him how over the summer.

"They look so happy," Jade said. And that they did. It was if everything around them had drifted away and the only thing they saw was each other. 

"My princess," Sirius heard her father say to himself as he watched her float away on her emotions. He jumped out of his seat when it was time for him to dance with her. Sirius took Jade's hand when everyone went to the floor. They talked of nothing but how lovely the wedding was and wondered what the future would bring.

"I can't wait to get married," Jade said without knowing she had said it. Sirius then found an excuse to sit back down. Jade saw this as a good time to talk and dance with Remus. Sirius went back over to the head table and sat back down next to James, who was deep in conversation with Lily. She looked over at Sirius and suddenly stopped talking.

"Oh, that kind of conversation. I get it," Sirius said. He took Liz to the dance floor.

"Well," she said, "it's been quite a while since you and I last conversed."

"That it has," he said back. "So, how are you?" He cocked his head to the side and smiled.

"Oh you know. It was a great ceremony. They look so happy. Sometimes I wonder about settling down. Not anytime soon, but perhaps some day. What about you, you think you'll ever get married?"

"I don't know. I can't see myself married."

"You know Jade has her wedding all planned out and you're the groom," she said grinning.

"No way," he laughed.

"It's true. She even has the names of your children, the place of the wedding and your honeymoon location."

"You're not serious," he said. "She hasn't even said she loves me and she's got our wedding planned out?"

She nodded. Sirius felt a sweat build up all over his body. Liz snickered quietly to herself as she watched him panic.

"You'll be fine," she said.

"Can we change the subject?"

"Sure."

"How's Remus?" he asked. Liz made her lips go thin. "Oh, not good?"

"Well he has a.....condition. Do you know about it?" she asked.

"You mean him being a-"

"Yeah, that." She closed her eyes and lowered her head.

"I've known for years. Does it bother you so much?" he asked.

"I actually believed him when he said he had to see his mother or he was ill. Deep down I knew something else was up, but I didn't want to believe something was really wrong. But Remus is a good person, I know that much. Still..." 

"He didn't ask for it, Liz."

"I know. Lately, however, he hasn't really been himself. No one will hire him, he's still living with his mother, and he's depressed about it, and I can't say I blame him but..."

"Why should you tie yourself to him when you don't have to?" he said.

"Exactly. It sounds horrible, but I want someone who will go places and make me happy. Does that make me a bad person?" Sirius looked into her eyes and sighed.

"No. You're eighteen. Feeling tied down, guilty, and obligated to someone at our age is, well, a bit mental if you ask me. But at the same time, Remus is in a state of unease. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. We'll have to wait and see what goes on with him."

"Perhaps," she mused. 

"There's someone else, isn't there?" he asked after several minutes of silence from her.

"How can you tell?" she asked.

"I just know that look in your eyes."

"He's like Remus in some ways. He's not as good looking as Remus but just as smart, refreshingly optimistic, and always cheerful. But if I tell Remus, I know it would be the last straw. All the same, I think he suspects something."

"Does the new guy know about Remus?" Sirius asked.

"No idea."

"You need to let Remus know, Liz."

"Yeah. Oh," she said looking around, "they're going to cut the cake." Sirius dropped his hands from hers and looked over. Indeed, Lily and James were moving over to the mountainous cake. Sirius and Liz made their way over to get a better look. They cut out a piece together, and like tradition dictated, smashed it into each other's faces. Plenty of pictures were taken of that scene. Then everyone else was served.

When Jade prompted her tiny cousin to ask Lily to toss the bouquet, Jade was the one who caught it. Sirius felt as though he might faint. 

"So," James said to him as the reception was drawing to an end, "here are the extra keys to the apartment. Take the presents up, and lock it when you leave. Don't try and reach us unless there is a killer emergency like a fire or something. Get hold of me by way of Nimbus if you need to, Artemis has to go with me. Got it?" he asked.

Sirius nodded. "Good," James said. "Looks like Jade caught that bouquet. You do know what that means, don't you?" he asked with a grin.

"I'm not stupid, James," he said.

"Really? Well, it's not a big deal anyway because I know you love her," he said with a sock to the shoulder.

"Do not," Sirius responded. "What makes you think that?" he asked.

"What's her greatest pet peeve?" he asked.

"She hates it when heavy set people wear skimpy clothing. Wait...it also really bugs her when Disk Jockey's talk through a song. And she really doesn't like communists, or anyone who tilts too far left. Well it also-" he stopped as he saw the devilish grin on James's face. "Hey, it doesn't take a lot to know those things about her."

"Whatever you say, my friend. I'll give you a few years to figure it out, how about that?"

"Don't even say things like that. I'm not anywhere near as crazy as you are. I don't love Jade, I'm telling you!" he whispered yet yelled.

"Okay, Sirius," he said in an unconvinced tone. He nodded simply, smiled, and continued to give that amused look. "So, let's review. You don't know where our hotel is, don't have the number if you ever felt like calling, you've got the keys to our place...am I forgetting anything?" he asked himself.

"No. Just go, James." Sirius pushed him out of the way. "Ladies and gentlemen!" Sirius shouted. "They're finally leaving for Rome. We won't see them for a week and a half."

People cheered despite Sirius's fake tone of despair. The band struck up a very energetic tone, and James and Lily took leave. It was a very boisterous affair, but special nevertheless. Sirius made sure he saw them off to their limo; they would be driven to an undisclosed location then Apparate to their hotel. Lily looked so happy as she jumped into the car with James following her. When the car sped off and left, everyone waved and some ran after to continue waving. The engine's roar got softer and softer; they were gone. Sirius heaved a sigh as he saw the colored sparks dance down the road after them. 

"You're going to miss him, aren't you?" Jade asked, as she came over and held his hand.

"It's kinda weird. Not a day has gone by that I haven't seen him, but there he goes."

She looked into the distance, then back at him. "Let's go for a walk," she said, "it's a nice evening." So they did. He kept telling himself that he knew her well and enjoyed her company, but it didn't stretch to love. She was pretty, sure, and yes she was rather fun to be around...he liked the smell of her hair and her fast wit, but that wasn't love. 

And if he did fall in love, with someone, eventually, would it really be that bad?

Yes, that voice said. Remember what you told Liz. Being tied down to one person isn't your style, my boy. Be free!

But be free with whom? James wasn't free, and he never would be....again. Because Sirius would soon find out that James would grow up...soon. One day he would leave childhood behind and join the adults in their fast and complex world in a matter of minutes. Sirius was grateful that he would witness it, James's transition. Sirius was the only one who would see him grow from a boy to a man, but James would welcome that change, that lifestyle. He would be so happy to have it. 

Sirius, later on in years, would realize that as soon as James first kissed Lily, his life went too fast. There never was a dull moment, a time period of five minutes, or even a second that wasn't filled with some emotion, task, or breathtaking splendor from here on out. 

But here Sirius was, walking casually along a street with Jade. James and Sirius had been an entity, two peas in a pod, best pals, brothers, however you choose to see it, that's how they were. Seeing one without the other was enough to start an inquiry. Remus was right; a new era had begun. It would never be the two of them out on the town. Sirius knew this. He knew that while James would seek his company, it would only be a short period of time. Even though they worked across the hall from one another, lunch was the only time they met. 

As they walked down the street in a comfortable silence, Sirius wondered how different things would become when James came back. He had thought about this before, of course, but he never really would quite grasp the radical changes that happened from here on out.

"I know what you're thinking," Jade said silently.

"Hmmm?" he said.

"How things are going to change. They're like our central nexus- if they change, so do we. It's weird but true. Don't worry so much, though. He's still your best friend."

Sirius nodded. Yes, he is your best friend, he thought. No one could or would ever replace James...ever. He had never thought of how things would be if there was no James. It was ridiculous to think about. Not a single day had gone by, after all, without James being there for him. 

"So it's just you and me," he said swinging her hand in the air.

"What will we do with all this time?" she said.

"I can think of a few things."

"Jade!" a man said, as he came out of a café. Sirius looked up at him instantly. The man was a few inches taller than he was, older, and seemed to have a very deeper voice.

"Kevin," she said taken by surprise.

"Kevin?" Sirius said.

"Kevin," Jade said. "He works in my office with me."

"Oh really?" Sirius said moving for him. "I'm Jade's boyfriend, Sirius Black," he said trying to stand taller.

"Nice to meet you," he said politely. "So Jade, you ready for your presentation?" he asked, completely pushing Sirius out of the way.

"No. I figure I'll wait till the last minute."

"Well this is fun, but Jade and I have to be pushing on," Sirius said, taking her by the hand and moving quickly down the street from which they came. Jade pulled him back, or at least tried to, but he was quite determined to keep moving along away from Kevin.

"What is the matter with you?" she asked hastily.

"Nothing, I just want to go back and take the gifts back to their apartment, that's all." He kept pulling her along, but she still resisted.

Sirius turned around to face her and smiled. She smiled back.

"You're jealous!" she said.

"Am not," he replied shaking his head. "They're depending on me to get them their things."

"Sirius is jealous," she said, smiling and now going along with him freely. "I can't wait to tell everyone who knows you," she said, almost singing.

"That is ridiculous."

"Yeah, sure it is. So should I cancel that luncheon I have with him next week?"

Sirius whipped around so fast he might have turned three hundred and sixty degrees.

Jade laughed herself hoarse. Sirius tried asking her questions, but when she tried to say words, she snorted with laughter again. Sirius eventually gave in, but never admitted he was jealous.  
  


Sirius walked down a busy London street. He had be sent by Matthew, his trainer, to scope out the average avenue. He gave Sirius a common Muggle camera, spending money, and simple clothes so he would blend in.

"Isn't this for the spies and operatives?" he asked.

"Why, can't hack it? Just take a few pictures like a simple tourist, and bring them back," he said in return.

"But why?" Sirius pressed him. Matthew didn't answer him. Sirius couldn't help but think these intelligence people were a little cracked.

So here he was, casually walking down a street in London, watching the passers by. He couldn't help but notice how at ease they seemed to be, not knowing that a Dark Lord was hunting even them. He tried not to think of Voldemort, however, and pressed on.

He saw a few funny things; a Muggle woman was screaming at a man, who upon further inquiry was her husband. This made Sirius think of Lily and James, who had yet to return. Sirius chuckled, took a picture of the bickering, and walked past. 

Venders on the streets tried to sell him trinkets he didn't need, food that smelled bad, and tickets to the latest 'sold out' play. He tried ignoring them and snapped a few shots across the street.

Click. Click. Click.

Sirius pulled the camera away slowly but didn't divert his eyes from the street. Perhaps one more picture, he said to himself. 

Click. 

He hadn't ever seen anything like it. Well, that wasn't entirely true, but this one was superb. He rested the camera on his chest, crossed the street without checking traffic, and stood before it.

A motorcycle, decked out in chrome and leather seating, sat before him. Sirius kneeled down to get a better look. It was actually quite large in size, yet that didn't bother him. He ran his hands over its smooth steel frame. "Harley Davidson" was written in orange on one side. Sirius took a close up picture of it, ran to a phone booth, and looked up numbers.

He had been briefed, both by the Bureau and Lily, on how to use a phone book. He loved both of them for it. He searched for the nearest motorcycle shop and made his way there.

It wasn't exactly as he imagined it. There was loud and very obnoxious music playing in the showroom, and it might have hindered him if he hadn't seen it. 

A motorcycle, the same model he had just seen only black, was revolving on the showroom floor. He walked over to it, his eyes like those of a small child waiting for candy, and ran his finger from the large headlight, to the rear wheel well.

"She's a beauty, isn't she?" a man asked. Sirius spun around on his heel to look at the man. He was wearing a yellowish suit and a very bad tie; green plaid. 

"Yes," Sirius said, as he looked back to the bike.

"The Harley Davidson FXS Low Rider 1200. Debuted in Daytona Beach, Florida. It has a 74 CI V-twin engine with four speeds and includes factory custom styling, and, of course, the drag-style handlebars to really give you the feel of speed."

"Of course," Sirius said, though he only understood about half of what the man said.

"You interested in her?" the man pressed. "I can get you a great deal."

"What year is it?" he asked.

"1977. Latest model, actually. Why don't you step into my office, and I'll have you ordered for one of these, alright?"

"No. I want this one," Sirius said.

"This one?"

"Yeah. I'll give you the retail price, don't you dare," he said, pointing his finger at the man and furrowing his brow, "raise that price." It was the one thing he had inherited from his mother, that scary 'don't mess with me' tone. Even the Muggle salesman didn't argue. He scrambled into his office and started with paperwork and loan applications while Sirius took a look around.

Helmets, jackets, pants, boots...this motorcycle thing was more like it's own culture. He, of course, had to have everything. He couldn't remember the last time he bought anything for himself. Sirius, though he was many things, wasn't a frivolous spender. He had quite a bit of money saved up, and he thought it time to give his vault a good cleaning.

"I'm going to need to see your license," the salesman said. 

"Even though it's not going to be mine?" Sirius asked, which was a complete lie.

"Oh! Who is it for?" he asked. This was a toughie. He was too young to have a son old enough to drive it, what kind of kid gets his parent a motorcycle, and he wore no wedding ring to say it was a gift to his wife.

"My best friend," he lied. "He just got married, and soon he'll be held down, and he'll need a pick up, you know?"

"Tell me about it," he said rolling his eyes. "My wife drives me crazy. And when we got married, she weighed half of what she weighs now. It's fine for your friend, but we'll have to ship it to his address and get his signature."

"That's fine. How should I pay?" The salesman grinned, took Sirius around the shoulders, and led him to his office for money matters.  
  


...later that evening....

Sirius parked his new motorbike in the downstairs garage. He was clever enough to put an anti-theft charm on it before he went up to his flat. He had also bought, of course, a heavy bomber jacket made of thick, dark brown leather with fake brown fur lining the collar. He decided against the helmet, so instead he wore the sunglasses Lily had given him for Christmas.

He fumbled around his new jacket for his wand so that he could open his door, but as he was leaning on the door, it slipped open. Sirius made an effort not to go straight to panic. He found his wand, stepped inside, and silently shut the door behind him. 

There was definitely a change to his home; it was clean. No dirty clothes, or clean clothes for that matter, were strewn all over the couch, chair, and floor. Wow, he thought, he could see the floor! He couldn't remember what color it was, but there it lay. Blue. The kitchen, he saw, was absent of the dirty dishes, rotten fruit, and fruit flies. The place was clean.

Well, whoever the assailant was, they were useful. Sirius lowered his wand, but then heard clinking coming from his bedroom. He raised his wand again. The door opened-Sirius threw himself flat against the wall-a foot came out...a high-heeled foot which seemed to be attached to a nylon covered leg, a nice leg. Sirius looked up at her face; it was Jade.

She wore a small, black dress with spaghetti straps and a low back. The dress fell a good three inches above the knee. Her hair was down, straight, and shinier than Sirius had ever seen it. 

"Hello, Sirius," she said with a seductive smile. 

"Hi," he said quietly.

"I thought I'd drop by and see how you were doing. But then I saw the state of this place and decided to do a little tidying up." 

"Oh," he said, trying to make his feet move forward, but they wouldn't. She, however, had full control. She walked over to him, moved her hands up his chest to around his neck, pulled him toward her, and kissed him. 

How could the day end better? he thought. He let his hands pass over her bare back and move up to her soft shoulders. 

"I love this jacket, Sirius," she said, touching every part of it. "It's very..." she didn't finish. Instead, she kissed him again, withdrew, and walked into the kitchen. Her heels tapped the tile floor. "I prepared filet minion for dinner, if you don't have any other plans, that is," she said, as she turned to see him.

He shook his head. He knew he probably looked savage, staring at her like she was made of gold, but she was simply gorgeous.

"How was your day?" she asked, trying to bring him back to earth.

"Fine," he said. He walked over to the counter stool and sat down. "Actually it was very good."

"Oh?" she said. "What did you do?" she said, pouring some drinks.

"I have acquired something of great interest to me. And I would show you, but then we'd have to leave, and I don't want you escaping."

She grinned. "What did you get?"

"Guess," he told her. He placed his hands around her small waist; she covered them with her own.

"I don't know, tell me," she commanded.

"I purchased a motorcycle," he said. "A fast, loud, and truly amazing motorbike."

"No way," she said. "But how did you get it?"

He beamed and looked up to the ceiling. "Well, I pulled some strings, forged some signatures, and lied about some other things. Nothing too big: just my name and address. They don't care as long as you pay cash."

"Sirius," she said, slapping his shoulder. "That's illegal, and you know it!"

"Oh come now, Jade. You need to learn to live a little. You're not going to tattle on me, are you?"

"Don't you think the Bureau knows what you did?" she asked.

That was a good point...

"I'm sure they'd be fine with it. I doubt that everything they do is legitimate. Besides, I'm not going to use it for harm, only good."

"Really?" she asked, though it wasn't really a question.

"Yes. You want to see it?" 

She hesitated, bit her lip, and held his hands. "Oh what the hell," she said.

"That's my girl," he said excitedly, pulling her to and out the door. When he got to the garage door, he made a huge deal of the presentation by standing in front of it, grinning hugely, then said "Ta da!" when he opened the door. 

"This is all yours?" she said walking over to it.

"All mine. You want to take a ride?" he said, as he got on and patted the seat behind him.

"I can't ride this with what I'm wearing," she said, blushing slightly.

"Aren't you a witch?" he said. "Disapparate, change, come back, ride with me, Apparate back, change back into the dress, and we'll have dinner," he said taking her hand.

"You have such a way with words," she replied. "I'll be back," and in a 'pop' she was gone. Sirius sighed and smiled, his one hand on the handle bar, the other still in the air.

Jade reappeared in minutes, her hair still long and shiny, but she wore blue jeans, black boots, and a suede jacket. In seconds, they were zooming down the streets of Leeds. Cars swerved out of their way, innocent pedestrians had to dive for cover, and several bicyclists swore loudly at them.

"Whooohooo!" Jade yelled, as they flew over several trash bins when Sirius had used a rather large speed bump as a ramp.

"Hoodlums!" a man yelled at them, his fist raised in protest. Jade heard him, but waved at him, a large grin on her face.

"You want to go back?" Sirius yelled. 

"No!" she yelled back. Sirius laughed to himself. "Just one more time around the country!"

"How 'bout one more go around the city? Would that do for you?"

In answer to his question, she kissed his cheek and tightened her grip around him. 

They ended up speeding through the city a few more times, actually, as Jade simply loved it, and Sirius couldn't remember a time when he had more fun.

Laughing and occasionally kissing, they made their way back up to the flat. It took Sirius a while to open the door, as Jade stood against it, and he couldn't resist kissing her. Once they did get in, Jade reheated their dinner with the use of magic, set places for them, and poured drinks. They couldn't seem to stop talking about their ride on the motorcycle, especially the funny looks they got from all the citizens of Leeds. After that, conversation moved towards work: how's it going, what's interesting, so and so says this, and all that jazz. 

Jade had made fudge brownies, her all time favorite, for dessert with French vanilla ice cream to top it off.

"All right," she said, taking out a stack of cards and began to deal them, "Egyptian War time," she said.

"That is a violent card game," he said.

"Precisely. Are you man enough to take me on?" she asked, grinning.

"I'm afraid I might hurt you," he said.

"No you're afraid I'll beat the pants off you. Come on," she said, "play."

"Fine, but your butt is mine, Yang," and he took the cards.

Despite Sirius's quick reflexes he had gained during his Quidditch years, he just couldn't get his hand on the double cards fast enough.

"Oh no!" he said, slapping his hand down on two aces. "My hand was here first, these are mine!"

"No, no, no," she giggled, shaking her head at him. "My fingers are under yours, so my hand was there first. My aces," she said.

"I think you cheat," he said, throwing the cards at her. "Look, I have about five cards and you have a thousand. You must be cheating or using magic to get all of these-damn don't take my queen, please, Jade let me have my queen!"

"Let me think about that," she said, raising a finger to her chin. "No." She quickly took up his queen after a battle. "No, she has to take residence with your king, Sirius. I can't deny them that. You could quit, you know, I mean I'm clearly winning this game," she said, holding up her thick stack of cards.

"Give me that queen back," he said, reaching for it, but she pulled back. "Jade, give me my queen or I'll take it from you by force."

"Such big words from so little a strategist," she teased, holding the queen behind her. Sirius chuckled lightly, then quickly got up and started for her. Jade let out a soft scream and ran to the other side of the room.

"Give it to me," he said, laughing, "or you'll regret it."

She scoffed and flashed the card in his face. "No," she said. He jumped over the couch, grabbed her around the waste, and tumbled to the ground with a very loud, very painful thud. 

"Ouch," he said, half laughing, rubbing his head; he had sustained most of the fall.

"Are you okay?" she asked through her giggles. She leaned over him, ran her fingers through his hair, and kissed his forehead.

"I think I'm done for," he laughed.

"Well, I have all your cards now," she said, holding up his remaining ones in her other hand. "So the game's over; I win," she said.

He grinned and touched her face. "Yeah," he said, "you win."

She lay on his chest, rising and falling with his breath for several minutes, each staring into the others eyes. He took his hands and put them around her neck and pulled himself up to her lips. He tried desperately to convey his strong emotions for her in that kiss, and it worked. She slowly leaned back as he rose so that soon they were both in a close embrace. 

"Sirius," she whispered happily in between kisses. It wasn't the beginning of a phrase or a question, just his name. He smiled in his kiss to her. It was something about the way she said his name; it gave him this very funny feeling inside of him, something he hadn't felt before.

"You taste and smell like chocolate," he said lightly.

She smiled. 

A high pitch beeping noise sounded through the flat. Jade pulled her wrist to her eyes; it was her watch. "Oh my," she said, pushing the hair out of her face.

"What?" he asked.

"It's nearly one in the morning. I have work tomorrow. I've gotta go," she said, quickly getting up.

"Can't you owl in sick?" he asked, also rising and trying to hold her back.

"No. I'm sorry, Sirius. Owl me, or I'll owl you. I'll see you later," she said, heading for the door. He took her by the hands, and kissed before she left.

"Thanks for coming by," he said lightly.

"You're welcome," she said back. She kissed him one last time, then left. Sirius locked the door once it had closed. He leaned against the door, took a deep breath, and then sighed. He smiled to himself. Then, quite suddenly, he popped his eyes open, drew away from the door and hit himself on the forehead, actually causing him pain.

"Oh no," he said.

* * * * *

The warm sun crept into the windowsill and fell onto Lily's face. She was in that place, that place between sleep and awake where everything feels so good. But the sun was trying to break open her eyes; she squinted.

James rolled over, no longer asleep, and wrapped his arms around her. She grinned and put her hand on the back of his neck. She could feel his rough face on her cheek, but she didn't mind it. 

"What time is it," he mumbled softly into her ear.

She opened her eyes and reached for her watch on the bed stand. "Seven forty," she said.

"That's a bit early," he yawned. She dropped the watch back down, rolled over, and wrapped herself around him, burying her head between his neck and the pillow. "I love you, wife," he said.

She smiled into his shoulder. "I love you too, husband."

They had done this several times; it always brought smiles.

"Maybe I should make breakfast," she said.

"No," he said suddenly. "Perhaps we shouldn't try that so soon."

"Oh James," she said, drawing back and looking him in the eye, "I can make toast."

"You sure you feel up to it?" he asked, propping himself up.

"I can handle it," she said, kissing him. 

Toast wasn't made for at least a half an hour. Saying more would be far too rude. But by the time they did rise and made toast (the third attempt to make toast; Lily burned the first two slices) it was well past eight. James started going through the owl post as Lily was scrapping butter onto her well-browned bread.

"Did we miss anything?" she asked.

"Nothing totally interesting."

"Not that it would have mattered," she said, unable to contain a smile. James chuckled, also unable to restrain himself from a good grin. "I need to get those pictures developed," she said.

"We took pictures? Of what?" he asked.

"The Coliseum, inside and outside the Vatican, the Roman aqueduct, quaint little towns, and Coreleone, Sicily, upon Jade's request. I took the pictures, you were clearly not paying attention to Italy."

"No I wasn't," he said, staring at her with hungry eyes. She stared right back. 

"Maybe we should stop breakfast for a short while," she said walking towards him.

"I might be able to handle that," he said before attacking her neck.

There was a loud pounding at their door.

James and Lily didn't stop. The pounding continued. James looked at the door.

"They'll go away, ignore it," she said. But he couldn't concentrate with that racket. "James, don't," she said, trying to hold him back. 

"I can't function properly knowing someone is out there. I'm sure it won't take long," he said. He went to the door and opened it.

"Sirius?" he said. "What are you doing here? Are you alright?" he asked. Sirius nodded.

"So how was it?" he asked weakly. "I feel terrible doing this to you both, but I couldn't stop myself from coming here."

"It was more fun than any human being is allowed to have," James said beaming. Lily giggled in the background then rested on her husband. "Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"Yes and no. If you want me to leave, I will, or I'll try. I couldn't stop myself from driving here. You know how we said we'd always be there for each other, no matter what or when?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, it was a really long time ago, but yeah, of course."

"This is one of those times. If you want me to wait, I'll be glad to."

James looked at Lily, who nodded. "I'll get started on the presents," she said mischievously, then went off to the untouched pile of gifts.

"Alright Sirius, what's up?" James asked, showing Sirius inside.

"Well, it's your fault, that's what it is. I figure it must be contagious or something, because I was fine before the two of you," he said pointing at Lily.

"What did we do?" Lily asked, as she ripped open new silverware.

"As if you don't know. Something terrible is happening to me! I actually think I'm...I'm..." he looked like he wanted to say the words, but he didn't. He clenched his fists and held them above his head, his eyes shut tight. 

"Sirius," Lily said, getting up and walking over, "what's the problem?"

"I can't stop thinking about her!" he yelled. "She won't leave my head, and everything she does, and I mean everything, it's just so damn endearing!"

"Who?" James asked.

"Jade?" Lily said.

"She sort of does this humming dancing thing when she eats chocolate, and then when there's the tiniest of noises in the room, she scours the place looking for it so she can stop it. And she does this nostril-flaring thing, that used to really creep me out, but now it's the cutest thing in the world. I can't stop thinking about her!" he said as he crumpled to the floor, his arms over his head.

"Well, well, well," James said, nodding, his arms crossed. Lily couldn't stop smiling. "So the mighty tree has fallen," James said.

"Please tell me you put a spell on me," he pleaded, grabbing James's shirt.

"Nope. No spell," he said looking down on him. Sirius truly looked pathetic, as if he was suffering from a serious illness.

"You're so evil!" he cried, falling to the floor again and groaning.

"You're in love with her," James sang quite happily. "You're in love, Sirius!"

"That isn't it!" he demanded. "Maybe it's just an infatuation."

Lily piped in. "No. Infatuation is loving someone you don't know, like building an image of them inside your head and loving the idea. You know Jade, and you know her well. You love her," she said, grinning. "Thank you so much for coming over and telling us."

"Best present so far, wouldn't you agree my darling?" James said, putting his arm around Lily's shoulders.

"By far," she said.

"No," Sirius continued, "I can't be in love. This is crazy. You two are the crazy ones, not me. I'm Sirius Black; I'm not James Potter."

"How long did it take you to figure that one out?" James asked. "Oh this is fun," he said, laughing. "So when are you going to tell her, Sirius?

"I'm not. I'm going to break the whole thing off right now. I'm going to her office today, looking her in the eyes, and tell her I don't love her and I want to break this thing off. Yeah," he said nodding his head, "that's what I'll do. I'll break up with her. Ha! What do you think about that?"

"You won't be able to," Lily said. "You'll look into her smiling face, and you'll spurt out your true emotions for her."

"I won't," Sirius said. "You just watch me do it. I'm breaking this thing off. I'm eighteen, and that is far too young to be getting involved with someone. The both of you have the wrong idea."

"Young marriages are quite common in our world," James said. "Your parents got married right after school, as did mine and Remus's as well as many other people, including us," he said.

"I don't want to get married right now!" he said. "I don't care how common it is. I don't want to settle down and have the old ball and chain, thank you very much."

"Sirius," James said with an evil smirk, "you love her. You looooooove her! You want to smooch her, and hold her, and be with her all the time, and you know it. You can't stop thinking about her and all those quirky things she does because you love her!"

"I hate you," Sirius said, standing up and looking very serious about it. "I will never talk to you again. Ever! Don't call on me for any favors, or to chat, or whatever other things friends do for each other, because you are no longer mine. I'll be friendless. Okay? How about that?"

"I think it's hilarious," James said, laughing. Lily was also giggling freely.

"I am not joking," he said. "I don't love Jade, and I never will. So she's really hot and fun to be around, big deal. Sure she's got a great laugh and personality and the best legs in the world, I'm sure there are others. And you know what, Potters? I'm going to find them. Starting today, Sirius Black will only date women for two weeks at the most." 

"Sure you will," James said. "You tell us how well your conquests are going, won't you? That is after you break up with Jade."

"Fine," he said. "I will. But that will be our only communication. I will ask nothing of you anymore and you anything from me!"

"What have we ever asked of you?" Lily said.

"Oh shut up. You will one day. Now I'm leaving you both!" and he did, slamming the door behind him. Lily jumped up and down with glee, James was laughing so hard he was crying.

"I can't wait to tell Jade!" Lily said, running to the owls.  
  


Sirius parked his motorbike in front of Jade's office building. He hadn't ever been there before. It looked like an old museum from the outside, but inside it was as modern as any other wizard building. He went to the front desk and asked for Jade Yang.

"And you are?" the woman asked.

"Sirius Black," he said.

"One moment please." Sirius paced the lobby, thinking of what to say. 'Jade,' he thought of himself saying inside his head, 'you're a really wonderful girl, too wonderful for me, actually. I feel you're too good for me, and I don't deserve you.' Oh she'll never buy that one. 'Jade, it's not you, it's me.' That was dead, too. Come on, Sirius, use your head!

"Sirius," Jade said, smiling as she entered the room. He turned around and smiled at her. She looked very pretty in her business robes.

"Hi," he said, kissing her lips.

"This is a nice surprise. What are you doing here?"

Tell her it's over, Sirius. Go on, be a big boy.

No, don't tell her a lie. James was right; you love her. Tell her that instead.

Will you go away! Damn conscience, can't live with it, can't get rid of it.

"I just wanted to say," he started, looking into her dark eyes.

"Yes?" she said, running her hands over his chest.

"I wanted to ask you out to dinner tonight," he said. Maybe he could tell her then. He didn't have enough time to prepare for right now.

"I would love to. You want to pick me up at my place on the bike?" she asked.

"Is there another way to travel?" he asked.

"Not a better way, but there are others. Well, I'll see you around seven thirty?"

"I'll be there," he said, kissing her again. She waved as she went back to work.

"Oh you are so weak," he said to himself. 

Though it was his day off, he decided to go into work and see what he could do.

"Help," he said in the Apparation chamber. The portal appeared and he walked through. It was very busy today, he noticed; people were scurrying about everywhere.

"Sirius!" Matthew Sanders said when Sirius entered the office.

"What?" he asked.

"Did you illegally purchase a," he looked at a paper, "Low Rider Harley Davidson?"

"I didn't illegally purchase it," he said. "I bought it with my own money, which I had saved for many years and earned." He walked to his cubicle and picked up his mail.

"It's a Muggle mode of transportation which requires a license to drive. You're not above the rules, Sirius." 

Sirius turned around to face him and smirked. "I know that. I saw it, and it called to me. You can't take it from me, surely there is something I could do to smooth this all over...you know, kinda like the way you smooth over illegal jurisdiction. Like last week when Ashika came bursting in her with hair all in a mess because the Ministry of Magic in Kenya came after us for your ordering Operations to take illegal photos at their embassy." He shot Matthew a very friendly smile.

"That was...well...some damn good negotiating and covering," he said.

"So couldn't you..." Sirius said.

"Black, let me tell you this, you're one of my best analysts, and I truly mean that," he began.

"Ah, now that's nice."

"But that doesn't mean you can play by your own rules. Now I'll cover your butt this time, but that's it. You here me?"

"Would it be alright if I made some modifications to it, you know, magical ones?" he asked.

"What kind of magical modifications?" Matthew asked slowly.

"Oh nothing too extravagant. Maybe I'll install a heads up display which includes a compass, weather reports...such things," he said evasively.

"Such things? Do I want to know about such things, or should I just put this file in a dark drawer where no one can touch it?"

"That dark drawer sounds really good. Thanks," he said.

"Is there anything else I should put in that dark drawer now as opposed to later?" he asked.

"I don't think so. Look, I'm going to look at this stuff for a bit, get ahead of the game." He started shuffling through some papers.

"We've all got a copy of that one. Intercepted it, we did. It's coded, but we think it was sent to a double agent. Ashika has been pushing this on us forever. She's obsessed with catching these people; she'll do anything."

"This is weird stuff," Sirius said reading a copy of the letter.

"Yeah. We've got everyone working on it separately. Operations is trying to look for where it came from or who it was to. So you work on it, and if you come up with anything, let us know." 

"Right," Sirius said, examining the letter. Matthew left the open cubicle. Sirius moved to his table and put the letter on the wall, magnifying it five times. The letter didn't make any sense whatsoever. It was unclear whom it was to, for there wasn't even an addressee at the top, or a signature at the bottom. It read:

Traveling yonder ingoing towards crimson orchestras strings steps over. Under aviation by living expensive so flying aviation raging. Making running run I expect direction that extends ripping done doing like ecstasy; grand dueling appeals up go how terrace rim. Needless money, regular time. Keys evaporate prettily over palms even never chasing nimble new like snakes and keepers rustic so utopia opens for it. Easily understand reeking killer aura.   
  


Sirius screwed up his face and scratched his head. He needed food for this. He took the letter off his wall, folded it, and put it inside his cloak pocket. "I'm hungry," he said to the wall and the portal appeared. He walked into the mess hall, which was filled. He decided on American food today; they seemed to eat better. He walked over to the American dishes, took several glazed donuts, and headed to an empty table. He took out the letter and started to read over it.

"Sirius," Guy said, coming over.

"Don't you ever work?" he asked him with a smile.

"I try not to. What have you got there?" he asked.

"Stuff you can't see. Not your sector." He stuffed the letter back into his pocket. "Nothing personal."

"Oh I know that. You counterintelligence guys are all in a wad over something, that's all I know. So when's James due back?"

"He is back. I saw him this morning. He looked very flushed and happy. She'll have him whipped in days." He and Guy laughed.

"You think she'll have him under her spell, huh?" he asked.

"In no time. You know how women are. But he'll be happy, I know it."

"What about that pretty girl you have? Jade, right?"

"She's good. She's happy with work, and all that."

"And all that?" he asked. He looked at his watch. "I've gotta be running along. Tell James I said hello. Good luck with whatever it is you're trying to figure out." He left. Sirius took the letter back out and continued to stare at it, looking for some kind of pattern.

"Traveling yonder..." Sirius mumbled to himself as he read it again. He willed himself to see something that would make sense, but nothing did. There wasn't even a distinct pattern and the clue didn't make any sense. He must have read it one hundred times, to the point of memorization, but still nothing came. 

He got up from the table and walked back to his office to drop off the letter, as he wasn't allowed to take it from the IWBI. It was evening by the time he left. He Apparated home, changed quickly, and sped off to Jade's house.

"Who are you?" a short Chinese man asked. 

"I'm Sirius Black. I'm here for Jade."

"I'm here," she said, coming to the door. "Thanks dad," she said, kissing her father's cheek. He didn't look happy with the arrangement. He started mumbling Chinese under his breath 

Jade walked down the steps, her father watching from the screen door. "I told him it's not China, it's England. When in Rome...but he likes his traditions."

"What about your mother?" he asked, leading her to the motorcycle.

"She's the one who tells him to cool it. She's Hawaiian and more twentieth century if you get my drift. So, where are we going?"

"I thought Hogsmeade would be nice."

"Sounds great," she said and hopped on the back of the bike. Sirius revved up the engine and drove off.  
  


"You ever get an assignment that's written in code?" he asked her as they left the restaurant after dinner.

"Code? Can you tell me about this?" she asked.

"I'm not telling you the content of it, not that it would matter; it didn't make an ounce of sense."

"Well, that's actually Kevin's department. Sometimes the code isn't the actual words, it's the letters."

"Well, that would make anything because it's a long message. There doesn't seem to be any kind of pattern."

"How long is it?" she asked.

"A good paragraph. We've got the entire department working on it so it's not like it's all on me." Then that thought came back into his mind.

"Oh, you hear that?" she asked, putting her arm around him. There was a song being played in one of the places on the street.

"Yeah."

"I love this song. I could sing it all day long," she said. Then she looked at him and started to belt it out. Sirius started laughing. He put his arm around her shoulders then leaned over and kissed her cheeks and neck.

"People are looking at us because of you," he said. "Stop singing," he laughed.

"I love this song too much to stop!" she sang in the same tune. Sirius put his hand over her open mouth, but she didn't stop singing. Instead it sounded muffled.

"You're impossible," he sniggered, kissing her again.

"I'll stop," she said. "So Sirius, I hope this doesn't sound sudden, but things like this have to be discussed."

"And what's that?" he asked, kissing her yet again.

"How do you feel about children?" she asked, looking him in the eye.

"Whoa, that is a bit sudden. Uh...I haven't put too much thought into it, actually."

"Do you want any at some point in your life? A few years from now, maybe?" she asked. 

She's looking at the long time commitment, Sirius. Tell her you want to end it now. Tell her now. Now!

"Well it's Sirius and Jade!" a familiar voice said. Sirius turned to see James and Lily walking hand in hand as they came out of a different restaurant.

"Well look who finally stepped outside!" Sirius chanted back. "How long did it take for the two of you to reach the door?"

"You are so funny. Where are you two headed?" he asked them.

"We're just strolling, talking, you know," Sirius said.

"I just asked him his thoughts on having babies," Jade said with a quick glance to Sirius then back to Lily and James.

"Oh really? That's more like a second date kind of question. What did he say?" James asked. He was smirking, and Lily was looking very entertained.

"So, how was Rome? What did you see? Did you go outside at all, see the sights?" Sirius interrupted. 

"Yes, so what was your answer?" Lily asked, Jade pushed Sirius.

"Well...they seem alright."

"What kind of answer is that? Come on Sirius, James and I talked about this very early on."

"Well you and James do everything early, don't you. Fine, you want an answer, then I'm undecided at the moment. I could go either way." 

"So when your wife tells you you're going to be a daddy, you would be happy, flip-out, or stare into space?" Jade asked.

"How should I know? It's big news, and I'm not going to hear it for a very long time."

"But if you did?

"Well I'd be sent for a loop, wouldn't I?" he said.

James laughed. "You'd go crazy." 

"Do you like them?" Jade asked. 

"They're messy and loud."

"Not all kids are like you, Sirius. Could you answer my question please?" she said with urgency. "I want to get married and have babies at some point in my life and if you don't then there isn't any reason for us to continue this relationship."

"But I'm too young to be making these kinds of decisions, Jade," he said. Jade turned to James.

"James, what do you think about kids?" she asked him.

"I love 'em," he said.

"Thanks for backing me up, man," Sirius said. James nodded.

"Well, we'll leave you two to discuss this," Lily said, taking James by the hand and leading him away.

"See you later, friend," Sirius said to James in a way that made James give him a sarcastic wink. "You didn't seem surprised to see them," Sirius said.

"No, Lily called on me this afternoon," Jade said.

"Really?" he asked, feeling sweat break out. "What did the two of you talk about?"

"Stuff. But please answer my question. Try imagining ten years from now, when your twenty-eight, would you want children then?"

Sirius took a deep breath. He knew that if he really wanted to end it with her, which he didn't, this would be a great way to do so. But he didn't want to. 

"Jade, I've never been around them before. They seem all right when they're not mine because I just don't have a lot of experience with them. I liked your little cousin, she was very cute, but I can't make a decision right now. It's too soon."

"We've been dating since February. It's more than halfway through September, Sirius. You should be comfortable with telling me things by now. I understand you're afraid of a long time commitment, but we've been, well...committed for quite some time. I want to tell you the kind of life I want in the future, and you should do the same for me. I want a family, Sirius. A husband, four children; two boys and two girls." She took his hands and smiled up at him. "Maybe I'll have a dog, or some horses, or both. I'll have an art studio upstairs with a canvas filled with my babies' feet and hand prints as they grow. I want all those things, and if you don't, that's fine. That kind of life isn't for everyone. Think about what you want from the future."

"How much time are you giving me?" he asked.

"How long will it take you?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," he said.

"That's how long," she said with a kind smile. "Why don't you take me home, Sirius," she said.

"Now?" he asked. "It's still early. Why don't we join Lily and James in the Three Broomsticks, then I'll take you home."

She smiled and nodded. They walked hand in hand into the warm and familiar building.  
  


....September 21, 1978....

James awoke to a very loud thud in the bathroom. He turned over to look in that direction, his vision blurred.

"Is everything alright in there?" he asked groggily.

"I dropped the soap!" she yelled back. James picked up his glasses and checked the time; it was nearly six. He threw the covers back, got up, and went into their bathroom.

"Honey," he said, pulling the shower curtain back, "do you know how early it is?" 

"Yes, but I have my first class at eight. I want to be ready."

"But it's not even six. You'll Apparate there so why are you doing all of this?"

"I was nervous. I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. I'm sorry I woke you. Try to go back to sleep." She put her wet hand through his hair and leaned in to kiss him.

"Ew," he said. "Shampoo…are you okay in there alone?" he asked with a wry grin.

"How so nice of you to be concerned with my well being," she giggled. "I'm too nervous, so yes I'm fine in here by myself. Go back to bed, sleepy head."

"If you need me, call me," he said.

"No matter where you are, no matter how far. Just call my name, I'll be there in a hurry, you don't have to worry, 'cause baby there ain't no mountain high enough. Ain't no valley low enough. Ain't no river wide enough, to keep me from getting to you babe!" she sang. "You see! I can't wait to go get this over with so I can stop bursting into song all the time."

James grinned, threw the curtains back, and went back to bed. He didn't get anymore sleep, however, for Lily continued to make too much noise and stress. She even put on a fashion show for him, though she didn't wear anything that he gave the thumbs up.

"What about my hair, up or down? Braid or flat?"

"Braided knob so it covers your neck. And I recommend baggy blue jeans and my big sweatshirt. Oh, a hat could work, and large, ugly glasses to cover your eyes," he said.

"I have a ring, James."

"You think that matters to everyone?" he said.

He made her breakfast, told her not to panic; everything would be fine. He kissed her goodbye and said he'd see her when he got home, then they both left.

Lily Apparated into a very common looking room full of people of different ages. 

"Name please," a woman said to her. Lily walked up to her.

"Lily Potter," she said. "I was accepted as Lily Evans, but I got married a few weeks ago," she explained with a smile.

"Here it is," she said, pulling out an envelope and handing it to her. "Lily Evans-Potter. There's a map, class schedule, and all that other crap if you somehow forgot it over the summer."

"Thank you," Lily said. Her first class was in a large lecture hall, basic biology. She got there very early, so there were plenty of seats. She took one in the middle row. The room was much larger than any classroom she had at Hogwarts. The rows of chairs sloped downwards as they got nearer to the chalkboard. At ten to eight, the room started to fill with eager minds.

A younger man sat next to Lily. "Hey," he said, looking her over. "Name's Jack Kent. And you're...?"

"Lily Potter," she said.

"Nice to meet your acquaintance," he said, as he took her hand. "How long have you wanted to be a doctor?"

"Since I was a little girl. What about you?"

"Since my father became headmaster of this school and told me this was my destiny since I was six years old."

"Oh," she said. "Sorry, I guess."

"Don't be. The pay is good. You married?" he asked pointing to her wedding band.

"Thirteen days now," she beamed.

"Congratulations. But you do know that most doctors divorce their first spouse, don't you? I mean, third year here really gets hard. You'll hardly see him, your husband that is. Then fourth year...well, you might as well kiss all intimacy off, that's for sure. My father told me that the people who don't drop off early on because they care solely about being a doctor, wind up single by the time they graduate. But best wishes to you and your husband." He smiled cheekily.

Lily put her hands under her seat and felt for gum, then pulled her hand back up. "Oh no," she said, "there's gum under my seat. I've gotta switch now." She picked up her bag and moved to a seat closer to the front next to a girl who didn't look much older than she was.

The professor came in late, didn't apologize for it, but went straight into his lesson. He passed the syllabus to everyone as he started talking about cells, mitochondria, and lipids. Lily took notes as fast as she could, eventually lifting her hand from the paper and let her mind guide the quill. After three hours of lecturing, he gave them pages to read and outline in their book.

Lily walked to her next class, Mathematics 1000, which is Algebra to you and me. The school was very lovely. There were many water fountains and green lawns all over the campus. Students were seen studying under trees and on picnic blankets. 

Math turned out to be quite a wake up call, but she caught on to the general idea fast enough. She recorded all the notes, then copied the homework assignment.

In her planner she saw that tomorrow she had a lab for biology. She only had two classes but a massive amount of homework. She was done with her first day of work at about one in the afternoon. She decided to walk to the Leaky Cauldron then go to Diagon Alley for some shopping she needed to do. 

She thought mostly about her lecture and how much stuff she had to know. 

It was nice to walk somewhere as opposed to Apparation. She yawned as she passed several shops, people, and cars.

"Are you Lily Potter?" a man suddenly asked. He seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Yes," she said slowly.

"Thank you. May I take this?" but he suddenly grabbed her bag and ran with it. Lily looked around for some assistance, but no one gave the man a second look. Lily screamed and ran after the man. People moved out of his way like drones, never even looking at him.

"That's my bag!" she yelled at him. "Somebody help me!" she cried. The man took an immediate right and shot into an alleyway. Lily skid to a halt and started to follow him, but a hooded man reached out and grabbed her, covered her mouth, and inserted a needle into the back of her neck. She tried screaming, but she couldn't get a sound passed his gloved hand. She tried hitting and kicking, but she soon began to weaken, her vision fading into blackness....

She lifted her head off her folded arms and looked around. She felt very groggy, her whole body seemed numb, and her eyelids were heavy. She was in rectangular conference room. The ceiling and floor were made of dark gray marble. The walls were royal blue. The table she was leaning her head on was cold and reflective; it was also floating. There were no doors here, only a strange looking plane; it looked like water.

Lily tried standing up, but her head was too heavy and her feet didn't seem to be working at optimum efficiency.

"You're awake," someone said. Lily looked around and saw a very thin Indian woman standing in front of her.

"Who are you?" Lily asked, gaining some of her strength.

"My name is Ashika Narayan. You need to regain your awareness before I tell you more, Lily."

"You're the Director of-" 

"Yes. I'm the Director for the Counter Intelligence Sector of the International Wizard Bureau of Investigation. I'm your husband's boss, so to speak."

"You kidnapped me," she said.

"That's a bit harsh. Here, drink this, it'll make you feel better," she said, handing her a purple liquid. 

"What is going on?!" Lily yelled.

"Relax," Ashika said. "You need to relax like I know you can."

"You tell me what's going on!" Lily demanded.

"I will once you calm down."

This was too weird. Where was she? What was she doing here, and why did this woman want her? Lily drank the potion in front of her, and, to her surprise, she felt better. 

"Why did you kidnap me?" she asked. Ashika chuckled.

"I've been watching you for a while now, you know. I wanted to see how well you blended in. I love reading about the things you have done, the people you have met, the hearts you've won," she said. Lily was confused.

"You've been watching me?" she said.

"Not personally. I had some of my agents following you for a few months now. It took you a while to take notice of them, but at least you sensed it after a while."

"You mean I wasn't imagining things?" she said. "The men in the furniture shop...the man in the street?"

"Yes and yes. They're mine. I wanted to see how you worked, like I said. I've sensed something about you, something I think will prove useful to me."

"What are you talking about? What's going on here? Where am I? Why am I being held against my will?" she screamed.

Ashika stared at her for several seconds before continuing. "Bold," she said at last. "I knew you had to be. Most people are intimidated by me, but you're not; excellent. You are in a top-secret conference room in the Bureau. You are here because it is time for you to go to work."

"Will you please try to make sense?" Lily said.

"Yes. I'll lay it out for you plain and simple, Lily. I need you to be a spy for me." She said this as if ordering a hamburger. Lily opened her mouth in shock.

"A spy?" she said.

"Yes."

"Why? Why me?"

"You're perfect for it. Haven't I said I've been watching you? You fascinate me, Lily. I know you have extraordinary magical powers, superb dueling abilities, a natural talent with complicated charms, and a beauty no man can resist. I've been waiting for someone like you for seven years." Ashika summoned a chair and sat very close to Lily. Her dark eyes bore into Lily's.

"I don't understand," Lily said.

"I need for you to enter the Fortress of Shadows. I need for you to find the moles and report who they are so we can eradicate them."

"What's the 'Fortress of Shadows' and a mole?" she asked.

"The Fortress is Voldemort's residence. A mole is a double agent,; someone saying they work for us but actually pass information to him. I need you to find out who they are."

Lily clutched her chest. "Excuse me?" she gasped.

"You heard me. You have to spy on Voldemort. The mole problem here is becoming worse each day, and we can't find them. I only just found out that a letter we intercepted was coming from this Bureau and being sent to Voldemort."

"You must be insane," Lily said, shaking her head. "I will not walk into that place and work for you."

"Why's that, Lily? Are you going to sit at home and read the Prophet about the evils of this world then say 'someone should stop it all, just not me?' Is that what you plan on doing? Nothing? Why don't you practice what you preach and help us?"

"Let me get this straight," Lily said. "You want me to become a Death Eater, work with those monsters, then find out who works here?" Lily asked.

"Precisely," Ashika said with a stone hard face.

"You are out of your mind."

"No I'm not. I'm brilliant. You're perfect for it, Lily."

"See, now you've lost me again. Can't you see the major flaw in this?"

"It's not a flaw," Ashika responded. "It's the perfect bluff. Being Muggle-born will only work for you and for him. He'll be able to use you more because no one will suspect you. You would be the last person to work for him,"

"But he hates Muggle-borns! Listen to yourself!"

Ashika laughed, but her eyes were still cold. "Oh Lily, you are so innocent and fresh from Dumbledore's Academy of the young and naive. You know nothing about the way his simple little mind works. He will love you, Lily, that's why we need you."

"No," Lily said. "You're crazy, that's what you are. He'll sniff me out and kill me, even if I did pretend to go along with this. Don't you know anything about him?" she asked, slamming her fist on the table.

"I know everything about him, Lily. He won't kill you. He'll see you as a huge asset, an easier way for world domination. All you need to do is go in there and tell him you want on board. That is all."

Lily studied her face for a moment, then frowned. "Nothing is that simple," she said. 

"You're wrong. Everything is simple if you can piece it together. Everything is black and white if you know how the song begins."

"Nothing is black and white. This certainly isn't! I won't go into this Fortress and join with Voldemort!" she screamed.

"Lily, Lily, Lily," she said shaking her head. "How many times must I tell you? Hasn't it ever occurred to you? Have you never wondered why a half blood is so intent on killing Muggle-borns or ruling the world? All you have to do is look at his past. It's simpler than that class you attended today. He cares nothing of purity, deep down. He's not pure himself. He's just got that 'my father left me, now I'm really pissed' attitude.

"It happens to all of them. The only reason he is so special is because he's a sorcerer. But there are people with the same train of thought."

"What are you on about?" Lily asked.

"The simple explanation for why Voldemort is the way he is. There isn't anything complicated about it. The world wants it to be complicated because complication makes them feel better at night. Something complicated means they have a right to be confused and do nothing about it. 

"His father left his mother after he found out what she was, a witch. Tom Riddle was born to a mother who died just after naming him. He was cast into a loveless place where he grew to know and trust only himself. He didn't have a father to teach him how to catch a ball or a mother to kiss him goodnight; he only had himself. Sure, he seemed fine for a while, but then he found out what he was capable of. He found he had extraordinary powers beyond most wizards of the world. He knew how to take care of himself, knew he needed no one, never did after all, knew he wanted revenge for how he was treated and raised for eleven years. He set out to murder his father, the one who had put him through hell as a child, the one person who had denied him happiness like all the other kids had. He killed his father and his grandparents, and he felt good. Why, it felt so good, he could to it again.

"He became quite addicted to it, but nothing was as good as killing his own father, nothing could meet that...high again. From then on, all Muggles became his father, those filthy people who didn't care about the greatest wizard in the world sitting in front of them. He wanted to conquer them all, rise above the rest, and rule over them like a god. 

"Because we all need the same things as human beings. What would you be like if you had his history? Children need parents of some sort, they need appreciation, need to be told they're important and loved. They need to know it inside. If they don't, Lily, they grow up to be bitter, tough, angry, and sometimes maniacal. It happens to all of them raised like that. It can take years to happen, constantly delayed. By one day, Lily, they all snap," she said, snapping in Lily's face, "and the only thing important is their sole survival, for that was all they could ever worry about. Or if you want it simpler than that, the world screwed you so now you screw the world." She gave Lily an uncomfortable stare, her dark eyes more like tunnels with no light at the end.

"You seem to have him down to a simple explanation, don't you? That's all well and good, Ashika, it really is, but how could you keep me safe?" she asked. "Even if I did agree to do this, what guarantee could you give my safety?"

"Because he'll really appreciate you. He knows of your talents, Lily. There's an aura about you that no man can resist. Even the Slytherins admired you and they never take to Gryffindors, do they? You're not easily frightened, intimidated, or thrown off course. You could stand up to him and tell it like it is, and he would love you for it. I have spies in there already; they tell me no one stands up to him; they all crumble in fear. And you are so beautiful, Lily. He will truly admire you."

"And what about James?"

"James cannot know about any of this. Knowing that you're going in there would rip him apart."

"So if I did agree to this, I couldn't tell him? How could I go from that environment then go back home and not tell my husband what I had gone through? I can't do this. I won't do this. You'll have to find someone else!" she yelled.

"No. You're the only one. Haven't I made that clear to you? Why won't you do this for our world, your world? He's tearing the world apart, making everyone suspicious of everyone else, and he's killing innocent people for sport, some to further his domination. We cannot decipher which is which, even with our spies on the inside. He keeps so much to himself, so many secrets he won't tell his minions, so much information he won't slip." 

"Then what's the point of me?" Lily asked, standing up and pacing the room.

"He'll trust you."

"And how could I get that? I've seen spy movies, I know what they have to do sometimes, and I won't do it!"

"If you're thinking what I believe you to be thinking, then no. It's not his style. He'll probably test you out, see how far you'd take it, but you wouldn't have to give anything to him if you didn't want to. That's all you would have to say."

"But my parents-"

"Muggles, yes, you've said that already. If that's a problem for you, he'll sense it. But like I said before, your powers are too great for him to care about heritage."

Lily let this all sink into her mind. A spy against Voldemort. Finding the double agents in this Bureau. Voldemort's reaction to her. Ashika. James. What to tell James. Should she do it?

"Hard isn't it? Well, I've tried appealing to your logical side, but you're a sensitive heartfelt woman, so now let's go for a trip."

"Pardon?" Lily said. Ashika stood up and signaled for Lily to do the same.

"I said we're taking a trip. There are some people I would like for you to meet before you make your final decision."

"I'm not doing this if I can't tell James. I have to tell him about this."

"Why? Because spouses tell each other everything? He doesn't tell you what he does here, does he? You tell him everything do you?" she asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Liar. You haven't told him your darkest secret, the one that haunts, the one you don't want him to find out. It's what will put you over the edge."

Lily didn't know how Ashika knew about it, though it couldn't be to hard to track. But she hadn't told anyone, not even James.

"How can you be so cold?" Lily asked her.

Ashika grinned as if this was a compliment. "I want to put this world back in order, and Voldemort is the one who needs to be eliminated for me to do so. The only way I can eliminate him is to take the rug from under him." She stared at Lily as she walked to the portal. "I suggest you follow me closely, there's a special invisible charm we use to be unseen. It's the same one we used on Greg when he took your bag."

"Why do you need it?" she asked, moving close to Ashika.

"Just come with me, and you'll find out." She stood in front of the portal and raised her flat palm to it. "St. Mungo's," she said. The portal rippled and turned a bright orange. "After you," she said. 

Lily walked through and found herself in a white hallway of a hospital, St. Mungo's. Ashika appeared beside her instantly. "Follow me," she said. Ashika walked down the hallway, nurses passing by took no notice of them. She stopped at double doors, gave one last glance to Lily, then opened them.

"This," she said, "is what he enjoys doing."

Lily covered her mouth to keep from sobbing.

In front of her were three children, two in wheelchairs. One of them, who looked about five years old, had his eyes half open, and he was drooling all over himself. A little girl, younger than the boy, was groaning and hitting her head. But it was the eight year old that was really disturbing. He was strapped down to a bed, shaking his head from side to side and crying for his mother.

"She was killed," Ashika said. "There was a raid on a town not to long ago. The children were subjected to the Cruciatus curse and went insane. There isn't anything we can do for them. They'll have to live like this until they die in a few years or so. This is only the first group; the older children are in another room if you want to see them, too. There's something you can do to put a stop to this, Lily, but you have to help me."

Lily wiped away the countless tears from her eyes and looked back to Ashika.

"You'll be fine. I'll send you with Fox, my most trustworthy agent. You'd only have to go a few times and never participate in his ills. I'll pass you information to give to him, information that isn't useful to me but might peek his interest. And you can't tell James a thing. If you do, his and your welfare will be put at great risk. You have to act as though everything is fine, is that clear?"

Lily nodded.

They walked back to the portal and back into the conference room. Ashika told her she would have to go now to get it over with, rather than thinking it over for however long. Lily agreed.

Ashika gave her a black cloak with a heavy hood; it darkened her face completely. 

"You will meet Fox on the corner. Go with your instincts, and you'll be fine. Remember to be strong when facing the Dark Lord, and don't fear to look into his eyes."

"Alright," she said weakly, pulling the hood over her head.

"You'll be fine, but good luck anyway," she said. Lily didn't respond. She tried to concentrate on what lay ahead of her, of the instructions Ashika had given her as guidelines, of how she was going to mull it all over and pretend it never happened when James would ask 'How was your day?' 

She walked into the portal and found herself in an alleyway, absent of people except for a cloaked man on a bench. Lily walked over and stood in front of him. Without him looking up, he stood and spoke.

"Follow close behind me. Don't ask questions, and speak to no one but the Dark Lord. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she said. He started walking down the alleyway, Lily in tow. They stopped at the end of a smoked brick wall. Fox took out his wand and touched the wall, mumbling words Lily couldn't understand. 

A large, dark purple oval appeared in the center, like a very perverse looking portal. Fox walked inside, and Lily ran after him.

It was as if someone was pulling her in a million different directions. Dark swirls passed before her eyes. A pain was rising in the pit of her stomach-then it was over. She fell face first on wet grass. Fox helped her up and led her to the forest's edge. It was dark here, but Lily knew it was only mid afternoon. Fox mumbled an incantation again and waved his wand at a set of rocks.

From the bottom to the top, a dark building started to take form. It was a small castle, complete with towers and turrets. 

"Three towers," he said. "There used to be four, but the third one was destroyed many years ago. Follow me," he said. Lily tried to tell her heart to stop beating so fast, but it wouldn't. 

The castle was just as bad on the outside as it was on the inside. There was an icy breeze and a moldy smell about the place.

Fox walked with his hood up, as Lily did. As they walked up a set of spiraled stairs, three more Death Eaters joined the ranks. Two walked behind her, and Fox and another walked in front of her. There was no turning back.

Green torches lit the dark hallway. Two trolls guarded the very large doors to which Lily was led through. She was getting closer to him; she could sense it. There were several doors in the room they entered. The five of them walked up to the one on the left; it lead to another staircase. They walked up it, their steps echoing on the walls. A man, cloaked like the rest of them, guarded the last door. Fox showed him something on his left forearm. The guard nodded. 

Fox and the other Death Eater moved aside for Lily to enter the open door. She took a silent breath and walked inside.

*************************************************************************

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	26. The October Ball

***The Marauder Chronicles; The End of Innocence, is a fan fiction. Characters belong to J.K. Rowling. Concept of the IWBI belongs to me. No copyright infringement is intended.***  
Authors note: some at end of chapter. Just to spare confusion, when the poem comes up, a year has passed. So 1978 has gone, and you are then reading from 1979. Sparklecharm, I tried emailing you but your address isn't working or your inbox is too full.  
Three: The October Ball

The door closed behind her. She stepped in closer but not too close. She believed she was in one of the towers, for the room was quite circular and tall. She tried to relax and stay calm.

"Mrs. Potter," a cold, high voice sounded from the far end of the room. Lily turned to see him, but he was cloaked in darkness, sitting in a deep, high chair. There was a black desk in front of him and bookshelves along the wall behind him and at the sides. "Come in," he said.

"You are one of the very last people I expected to see in my abode," he said, getting up and walking towards her. He stretched out his arm, grabbed the back of her hood, and lowered it, grinning at the sight which stood before him.

Lily remained silent; she stared into his glowing red eyes never breaking eye contact.

"My men said you were looking for me, said you wanted something with me."

"Something like that," she said, amazed that she found her voice. He smiled his snake-like face at her, then paced around her, touching her hair with his spindly fingers. He raised a long lock to his slit's for nostrils and took a long deep breath.

"My you are beautiful, even for a Mudblood," he whispered.

"Mudblood?" she said. "Tall words coming from a man whose father is a common Muggle."

He released her hair and moved directly in front of her.

"I am a bit confused, I admit, as to why you stand here before me. Perhaps you can clarify," he said. 

"I have a proposition for you," she said.

"Is that right?" he asked with a cruel grin. "Do you admire my cause?"

"Not in the slightest," she said coolly. "I think you're a killer, a monster one could say. I don't like or admire what you do, nor do I want to partake in any of it," she said flatly. Voldemort looked both amused and impressed by her.

"You're either very brave, or very stupid. You are in no position to insult me." But he didn't seem insulted; he looked smug and pleased. He started to pace again. "If you're so appalled by me, then why are you standing here? What is this proposition you bring me?"

"I can give you information. Valuable information regarding missions in the IWBI," she said, still looking him in the eye.

"Isn't that fascinating," he sated. "You want to give me information." It wasn't a question.

"Yes," she said.

"Why do you want to give it to me if you don't approve of my cause? Hmmm? Why hand over free information, information which will put people's lives on the line, if you hate me?" he asked. 

He was testing her, she thought. Play along.

"I never said anything about hating you. I see what you do, and it disturbs me. I think murder is wrong, savage, and despicable. However, you are moving up the chain of power rather quickly, and I can't help but notice that you have control. I think you'll have all the power you want very soon, so I might as well contribute to the inevitable."

He closed distance between them, stretched out his arms, and put his hands around her waste. Even through her cloak she could feel his cold touch to her skin. She wanted to recoil and run, but that would cost her life. 

"You're being somewhat inconsistent, Lily. Do you want to become one of my own? I would be happy to have such a lovely woman such as you among my ranks."

"No," she said.

"No? And why is that?"

"This place gives me the creeps," she said without emotion. Voldemort laughed and moved his hands up her back, pulling her closer. She clutched the collar of his robes, trying to keep her distance but not look like it. He was so cold, so thin, so unpleasant it made her want to throw up.

"It needs a woman's touch; I think you're right. No one does something for free," he started. "What do you want if you don't want to join my Death Eaters?"

"Respect," she said.

"And what does that refer to?"

"You're doing very well. It won't take long before you take over. I want you to remember that I contributed; I want you to remember what I did when you gain full power."

"I don't share positions with anyone," he said.

She shook her head. "No, you misunderstand me. I want to be left alone. I want to live in peace, be respected, and have room to breathe. I won't be a part of your masses."

He withdrew his hold on her, and paced around her again.

"Does your husband know you're here?" he asked greasily.

"No," she said honestly. He examined her closely.

"Why should I believe anything you say? How do I know you're not spying for that Bureau your husband belongs to? How do I know that Narayan woman didn't send you here?"

Lily whirled around to face him, staring into his eyes. "You don't," she said. "I guess you'll have to take a gamble."

He returned her gaze and grinned spookily, but she could tell he was happy about something.

"A gamble," he said. "I must say I value bravery, which you have. You can give me this information, and I will repay you in time. But I won't sacrifice my goals for yours. Never get in my way," he said firmly. "Never. It would be a pity to lose you."

She gave him a slight smile, almost undetectable. "I don't want to come back here on a regular basis; James will start to suspect something. I'll pass information to you through Fox, whatever James slips out. He's not allowed to discuss his work with me, but he's always played by his own set of rules."

"Fox?" he asked, looking mildly surprised. "Why him?"

"Why not him?" she said. "I found him first. Would you prefer I give it to someone else?"

He grinned again. "No." Voldemort went over to his desk and ran his fingers on its black surface. "Tell me, Lily, do you love your husband?"

"Very much," she said. "I'll always love him."

"Then why are you going behind his back and countering all his good deeds?"

She sighed and shook her head. "James is naive. He believes he and his Bureau can overcome you, but I know better. The rest of the world is too caught up in its political correctness and personal agendas, that they can't sort themselves out. You know what you want and you go for it."

He reached for his wand then started for her. She stood rooted to the spot. He grabbed her left arm very roughly and pushed the robe sleeve back to reveal her soft, white forearm. He rested his hand on the underside then flipped it over.

"What are you doing?" she asked, unable to hide her fear.

"All my Death Eaters carry my mark. It identifies them to one another and allows for me to call them. It's a simple little tattoo, Lily."

"No," she said trying to pull back, but he wouldn't release her. "James would see it," she said.

"No he wouldn't. It's invisible until needed. That's one of the many benefits to magic, my dear. I promise it won't hurt much," he said smiling, putting his wand to her arm. But she couldn't do this; it was crossing the line. She started pulling back.

"Please don't do this," she said. "There has to be another way." She felt tears coming on, which he also noticed. "I won't participate in your conquests."

"Handing over information is participating in your own livingroom instead of saying the spell and pointing the wand," he leered, gripping her harder.

"I'm not a cow in your herd. I don't want this brand, for that's all it is. Let me come here with an escort. Send someone for me, but don't brand me, please don't brand me. I know James would see it, I just know he would."

He considered her for a moment. He moved his cold hand up and down her arm, eventually letting it travel to her ring finger. "This is what keeps you restrained," he said, slipping her wedding ring off and holding it before him.

"That is what keeps me free," she replied sternly.

He laughed maniacally then pushed it back into her palm and released her. "'It's what keeps me free!' I will call on you again and you will answer me by returning here. If I want you to preform something for me, you will do so. If little Jamie asks where you're going, make an excuse, lie to him. Though even if he did find out what you really are I doubt it would matter so much. They have strong attachment to family."

"Who?" she asked.

"Potters. His father asked me to spare his life because he wanted to see his son grow up, graduate, marry you. He said he didn't want to leave his wife alone. But she wasn't for long. Byron was an excellent dueler, he put up a great fight," he said with an evil grin.

"Why did you kill him?" Lily asked.

"Ah..." he started, shaking his head at her. "He got in my way. Let us leave it at that."

"It wasn't because he was an Auror, was it?" she asked. She always thought that was the reason, it was so simple, but the way he explained it to her...

"It's getting very late, and you're too young to be out at night. Why don't you go home? I'll see you shortly, I'm sure." He walked up to her, ran his hands down her cheeks, then pulled up her hood. He walked back over to his chair and took a seat. "You may leave," he said from the shadows.

Lily nodded, turned, and left. Four hooded men stood waiting for her. She never thought she'd be happy to see them. They all escorted her out of the Fortress of Shadows and back to the forest's edge where Fox led her back to the portal from which they came.

After conjuring it up again, Lily walked through with Fox right behind her. The ended up in the same alleyway from which they left. Lily expected to go back to the Bureau through the same portal, but Fox led her to a different alley for that. In seconds, she found herself back in the conference room, Ashika stood waiting.

Lily threw her cloak off and began to sob uncontrollably. 

"It was awful!" she cried, sinking down to the floor. "It was so awful!" Lily pushed herself back against the wall, then pulled her knees to her chest.

"Did you get in alright?" Ashika asked.

Lily nodded.

"Perfect," she said. She took a cigarette out, popped in her mouth, then lit it with a snap of her fingers. "Did he ask for you to return?"

She nodded again.

"Excellent. For once something is starting to go right. The information I'll give you to pass on to him will be accurate. I'll have to see what kinds of things I can have setup for your credibility."

Lily tried to gain composure, but couldn't stop feeling his cold touch on her face.

"There's a mark they all have," she told Ashika, wiping tears away. "Why can't you pull up all the agent's sleeves to look for it?" 

"Can't do that for two reasons: one being that it only appears sometimes, the other is that I have to have reasonable cause to search them. I have my suspicions about some people, but they are just suspicions. Still, I would love to make them wear tank tops all day if it didn't go against code." She took a long breath of smoke then breathed it out her nose. "You want one?" she asked.

"No," Lily said. She stood, wiped her tears, and glared at Ashika.

"Lily," she said, "I won't make you go back there every week. You'll probably only go back a dozen times at the most," she said.

"Twelve times!" Lily yelled. "I can't stand that place. What about James?"

"He goes into dark places, too, you know. It's not like he doesn't face danger," she said.

"I thought he was an-"

"Operations Agent, yes he is. Everyone in this building is threatened in some way. James goes out into the field with Amin as his guide, but I suspect he'll be on his own in a few months. He's good; I never expected him to do this well."

"Did you hire him with the idea of getting me?" Lily asked.

"Don't flatter yourself," she said, exhaling more smoke. "James is perfect for the job, the fact that you came with him is an added bonus."

Lily gave her a piercing look. "How can you be this cynical?" she asked.

Ashika looked flattered by the question. She took a deep breath of smoke and didn't release it. "My father was killed by Voldemort," she said.

"I'm sorry," Lily said. 

Ashika laughed and shook her head. 

"You didn't like him?" Lily asked.

"No, no. He didn't kill anyone in my family. People love to hear a sob story for why I joined the Bureau."

Lily stared at her. "So why did you?"

"I was sought out, much like I did with you. I studied human psychology for eight years in school, then I applied my education to interrogations and profiles in Law Enforcement. Then about ten years ago, Alex H. Edgar, now the Director of the IWBI, recruited me to head up Operations. It didn't take long to be promoted to this job."

"How old are you?" she asked. Asking questions of this mysterious woman took her mind off Voldemort, which she needed for the moment.

"Older than you. Actually, I'm a bit older than Voldemort, I just take better care of myself."

"Are you married?"

She laughed again. "No," she said. "Never been married nor do I plan on it." She put her cigarette out then sat on the long table. "Is there anything else you want to ask or tell me before you return to where we took you?"

"How did you know Voldemort would take so well to me?" she asked.

"I told you I studied psychology, Lily. The human mind is very complex to those who can't work it out. I know that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to you, but it's true. The Dark Lord's mind isn't that uncommon, no one has ever said it was. He's smart, talented, extremely powerful, and has a gift to mess with people's minds. That is what drew me to him. Being able to make other people so suspicious about each other is a rare gift. His mere existence has dramatically changed the way this Bureau is operated. As soon as he took to power, when you were in your first year at school, I started examining his personal history.

"Mother dies after his birth, father left before that, he's dumped into an orphanage where no one cared about him for eleven years, then sent off to a school where he learned of his great powers. His abilities didn't begin at Hogwarts, though. He gained that manipulative ability, that untrusting nature, in the first eleven years of his life. Those years are the most important in human development. He didn't have an adult role model, or anyone to look up to, someone to emulate...nothing.

"You, Lily, have something about you, as I said before you left. Something about the way you carry yourself, the way you enter a room, the way you smile, laugh, cry...men love it. And not just good men like James, men like Severus Snape. Yes I know about that," she said looking at Lily's surprised face. "I have agent's in many places. But getting back to you-the Dark Lord doesn't see you in the way he sees his other Death Eaters. 

"My agent at Hogwarts told me about this witch with extraordinary abilities and unusual modesty about it. That's when I started taking a closer look at you."

"Professor Gellar," Lily said calmly, as if never suspecting her was a stupid mistake.

"Another reason I wanted you for this job; quick mind. Yes, I recruited her for many of the same reasons I picked you. She's smart, slick, and beautiful. Men trust women, most of the time, there are always the strange ones. But Celeste has that rare quality about her which brings their thoughts out."

"Like Sirius did," Lily said calmly again.

"Spilled his heart out didn't he? Sirius is one who keeps things very private, but when Celeste was around...he couldn't contain himself."

Lily let all of this digest in her mind. It all made sense now. Somehow the pieces fit.

"I'm hoping you share that ability with her. If Voldemort pours his heart out with you, we're in the clear."

"He hasn't though," Lily said.

"Of course not. He won't do it right away. But he's already treating you differently. He didn't give you his mark, right?"

"I told him I didn't want it," Lily replied.

"Exactly. He's willing to give you leeway he won't give any other. Did you stand up to him without fear?"

"I tried my hardest to. He's terrifying," she said, a shiver rolling up her spine.

"Did he tell you anything?"

"I asked him why he killed James's father," she said, looking into Ashika's eyes.

"What did he say?" she asked, standing back up and looking very interested.

"He said he got in the way. That's all. Do you know why?" she asked.

Ashika shook her head and sighed. "No. We assumed it was his profession. Byron spoke out against him, but Voldemort sought him out, it wasn't the other way around. There's a reason to it, we just don't know what."

Lily stared into Ashika's eyes for a long time. She wasn't the most easy going, the nicest, or the most understanding and caring person. There probably wasn't a caring bone in her body, but she knew what she was doing and Lily grew to respect that very quickly.

"Wait," Lily said. "If Professor Gellar has qualities you hope I have, then-"

"He's onto her. She's been tainted by Dumbledore; he hates Dumbledore. You're a mind of mush, no offense. You're fresh out of school with naive opinions and lofty ideas for what the world should be like, so you can be molded to go his way much easier than say a teacher, though they too tend to have lofty ideas," she said. "She's safe there, if you're concerned for her safety. But don't go spreading the word that she's a spy."

"Does Dumbledore know?" Lily asked.

"Yes," she said, though it sounded to Lily like Ashika wasn't happy with that. "I think it's time for you to go," she said. "It'll be hard, I know, to keep this from James, but if you can fool the Dark Lord, one of the greatest sorcerers in the world, you can fool your husband."

Lily shut and covered her eyes. They'd been married thirteen days, and she was going to cover something up already.

"You'll be fine," she heard Ashika saying. Lily didn't respond. 

She was returned, as if she'd never left, to the London street with her bag. It was as if time hadn't passed, but she knew it had. She tried hard not to think about it, to go about her normal day like she was planning, to think about the mitochondria and ribosomes of the cell for her lab tomorrow, but all she could think about was Voldemort.

She walked through the markets to buy groceries; carefree people bumping into her as she stood comatose in front of the refrigerators.

She entered her empty apartment, put away the food, stacked her new books on the dining table, and sat before them. She opened The Principles of Biology and started to read, only she didn't remember what she had read. After reading the same paragraph several times, she shut the book and threw off her clothes as she walked for her bathroom.

She turned the shower dial to as hot as she could stand it. She let the water hammer the spots Voldemort had touched to the point it left her skin very red with heat. But no matter how much soap she used, she couldn't forget it. 

After half an hour in the shower, she got out, dried, and put on a bathrobe. She needed to do something to take her mind off of the days events, but nothing she did could do that.

Lily moved the furniture around without lifting a finger, then put it all back (James would know something was up), tried her biology book again, and even installed an Identification charm outside her door (guests would have their name announced instead of having a knock). She decided to write her ordeal down on paper, get it all out of her system, then burn it.

She sat down at the table, took out a quill, and began to write. She listed everything, her thoughts, emotions, and chronology of all events. It did make her feel a little better, but she knew time was the only answer. 

"James Potter," the voice sounded. There was a turning of the knob-he was coming in. Lily set fire to the parchment with the snap of her fingers, got up, and awaited her husband.

"Hello beautiful," he said with the kindest of smiles. Lily warmed up immediately and grinned. She walked forward, flung her arms around his shoulders (Artemis screeched angrily and flew off), and kissed him with as much feeling as she could. He wrapped his arms around her. He was so warm and tender, so much different from that monster she had seen earlier that day. She snuggled her head between his neck and shoulders and let him hold her.

"How was your day?" she asked calmly.

"Fine, but how was yours?" he asked enthusiastically. "How was the first day at med school?"

"Very different from Hogwarts. My first class is in a very large lecture hall which was filled to the brim. My professor didn't even take roll; he passed around a sheet for us to sign instead. Magic wasn't even discussed in the first lesson," she began, then launched into all her science, anything to keep it away from that afternoon. After she finished, James said he was proud and glad she was pursuing her dreams. James couldn't tell her anything about his day other than it was busy, but she didn't care today; she was glad enough to have him.

"Remember how we said we'd get a hobby?" he said.

"Yeah," she said.

"I got us one," he said, rubbing his hands together.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Pool," he replied.

"Pool?"

"Yes, got us a table today."

"Why?" she asked.

"I heard some people talking about it today and it sounded rather fun. It's downstairs still, I just thought I should tell you before I brought it up."

"We don't know how to play pool," she said.

"That's why we learn. I'll go get it," he said, then left. Lily ran her fingers through her uncombed and wet her and sighed. He believed everything to be fine, as it was this morning.

"Remus Lupin," the voice said at the door. Lily went to it and opened it.

"Remus!" she said cheerfully. But he didn't look so happy. 

"Is now not such a good time?" he asked, pointing to her bathrobe and hair.

"Oh," she said, looking at herself and going slightly pink, "you're fine, I'll go and change. James is downstairs, but he'll be up in a minute. Come in and make yourself at home," she said before going back to her bedroom to change.

Remus took a few steps inside and closed the door behind him. 

"What am I doing?" he asked himself. He turned to leave just as James opened the door to come inside.

"Remus!" he said happily. "How the hell are you?"

"I got a job," he said. "It's not the best, nor does it pay too well, but it's a job and a way out of the house and on my own," he said with a mild smile.

"That's terrific," James said. "What kind of job is it?"

"The kind where they don't care what you are. It's a simple processing job. I file evidence for the Law Enforcement Department in the Ministry."

"That's great!" James said. "When do you start?"

"Next week. I am looking forward to it," he said with a small smile.

"You should be," James said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Could you help me with this table?" he asked.

"Absolutely," Remus said, chuckling. The two propped it up so it would fit through the door.

"Wingardium Levisoa," Remus said, and the pool table flew inside. "Where do you want it?"

"Here," James pointed to the middle of the livingroom. Remus set the table down then admired it. 

"Pool?' he asked.

"Yeah. Here are the sticks," James said ,pulling out a few long pieces of wood.

"I think they're called cues, James," Remus said smiling.

"Cues, huh? Interesting," he said.

"That's it, is it?" Lily said, coming over to it and walking around. Her hair was now dry and fell down to her waist. "Wow. What are the sticks for?" she asked. 

Remus covered his mouth and chuckled silently.

"We hit the balls with the sticks," James said, as if it was perfectly obvious. He took a set of multicolored balls from a leather bag and dropped them randomly onto the table. "And we put them in this triangular thingy," he said, throwing the balls into it, "to shape them up. Then we remove it, take the stick and this white ball," he said lining them up ready for him to hit, "and strike," he said thrusting his cue forward to make contact with the cue-ball. The ball moved, maybe, three inches. 

Lily and Remus laughed.

"So it takes some practice," he said to them. "I'll get it," he said, attempting it again. After several hits, in which all pockets stayed quite empty, Lily picked up a cue and had a go, but with very little luck. Remus took great pleasure in watching the two brightest students of his class fail miserably at pool.

"Sirius Black," the voice said. James gave a quick glance to Remus, who looked unfazed. James went to the door.

"Nice charm you got here," he said coming in and smiling.

"Remus is here," James said quietly.

"That's fine," Sirius replied, though he looked a bit uncomfortable now. He walked into the livingroom and said hello. Remus smiled to him, formally with a distinguishable hint of friendliness.

"Pool," Sirius said, looking at the table. "You guys just start a game?" he asked.

"They've been playing this game for half an hour," Remus said.

"Half an hour? Isn't it getting boring?" he asked them.

"It's our new hobby," James said defensively. "We'll get better with practice."

"Maybe you should stick to the marital act and keep away from pool," Sirius said; Remus nodded in agreement.

"The two of you are a slander to the art of this sport," Remus said.

"I don't remember asking for outside opinions, do you, my darling?" James asked Lily.

"No," she said. "I don't." James took up his cue and went in again for a strike. To everyone's disbelief, he sunk one.

"Who's the man?" he yelled, throwing his hands up into the air as if he was the new Heavy Weight champion. "I made one in!"

Lily clapped for him. Sirius grinned and shook his head.

"You're nuts, the both of you," he said. "I'm going to raid your fridge," he said, as he walked into the kitchen.

"I'll go with you," Remus called after, which deeply surprised Sirius. They both stopped in the kitchen and stared at each other.

"So," Sirius said.

"So," Remus said back.

"How's...life?" Sirius asked.

"It's the same as it's been for millions of years; it goes on," he said.

"No, I know that, but how is your life?" Sirius asked.

"I got a job, in processing in the Law Enforcement department at the Ministry."

"That's terrific!" Sirius said. "Law Enforcement! Wow. Good for you, Remus. Though you should be working in a much higher profession if this world wasn't so hung up on..." he didn't finish.

"Yeah," Remus said.

They didn't talk for several minutes. 

It sounded as if Lily had sunk a ball, for she was cheering for herself, but James's laughter told them she had sunk the cue-ball.

"So how's your job?" Remus asked.

"Fascinating. I get to see top secret documents, photographs, all that good stuff. It's loads of fun, and I get paid for it, not much, but still."

"I hear you got a motorcycle," Remus said.

"You heard correctly. She's downstairs right now. I have to put this special charm on her so she won't be stolen or pooped on by some damn bird. You want to see?" he asked.

Remus looked back at Lily and James who were walking around the pool table, as if it might help them. "Sure," he said.

Sirius grinned and led him down to it. His Harley was sitting in the shade of a tree. It was very clean and shiny, even the leather seats looked unused.

"Have you given it a name, yet?" Remus asked him, as he paced around it.

"Not yet, and I doubt I will." He took a white rag from his heavy leather jacket and wiped a spot on the headlight.

"How's Jade?" Remus asked.

"Good. She's good. I've been thinking about telling her how I really feel about her. Those three words are hard to say. What about you and Liz?" he asked, though he had ominous feelings about it.

"We're no longer-"

"I'm sorry," Sirius said quiclkly.

"This isn't your fault. I knew it wouldn't last forever, I mean it rarely does. She was my first girlfriend, not my last. She loves someone who works in her office with her. I saw something there a while back, so it wasn't surprising when she told me."

"I'm sure it'll all work out for the best," Sirius said.

"Probably," Remus said, kicking the dust at his feet. "Look, I've been thinking a lot over these past months about what happened."

Sirius looked up at him.

"There isn't a way to keep avoiding each other. James is my friend too. Maybe-"

"Alright," Sirius said with a slight smile.

"Fine," Remus said with a sigh. 

"But, for the record, I really am truly sorry, Remus. I didn't think about anything. It was brash and stupid and wrong and I'm sorry. If there was a way to go back and change it, I would. We could have confronted Snape instead of doing what I did."

Remus nodded. "I know. I know all of it."

Sirius stared into his eyes for a while. "So are we okay now?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

It was a very awkward moment, really. Sirius didn't know whether to shake his hand or ruffle his hair. Neither, apparently, did Remus. Instead they changed the subject.

"So how fast does this thing go, anyway?" Remus asked, pointing to the Harley.

"Ah, well that has a story to it. You see, I kinda tinkered with it. This model can get up to about ninety miles per hour, but mine can hit about one fifty."

"Good God, Sirius," Remus said. "You'll kill yourself!"

"Well it'll be a rush, that's for sure. Besides, we only live once."

"One hundred and fifty miles per hour. I hope you don't hit a tree, or a bus, or a wall at that speed."

"Me neither. You know how to play pool, don't you?" Sirius asked.

"Better than those two can. You?"

"I've played a few times. Should we go up there and teach them how?"

Remus nodded. They ascended.  
  


After Remus beat both Lily and James (badly, may I add) the four of them sat down and had dinner (Remus cooked).

"What's Jade up to this night?" James asked Sirius.

"She's having dinner with her grandparents," he said.

"Have you told her yet?" Lily asked.

"No, I haven't. Have you?" Sirius asked her.

"Of course not."

"So Sirius, what are you waiting for? Just go up to her and say 'Jade, from the moment I saw you, I've wanted to be the man who serves you. You don't have eternity you know. She is rather dishy," he said, smiling.

Remus laughed. Sirius stared back at James with a funny smile. 

"Is this pay back?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," James said. "It's not as easy as you thought it was, is it?"

"No, Mr. I-have-to-be-right-all-the-time, it's not. I apologize for trying to get you to make a move with Lily two years ago. What a horrible person I must be."

"How long did it take you to arrange that seating chart in Binn's class and keep it a secret?" Lily asked.

"Few weeks and some bribes. Well worth James's facial expression when he walked into the room, that's for sure," Sirius said.

"So Lily," Remus started, "how's Medical school?"

"It's an adjustment. Nothing like Hogwarts, though I don't know why it should be. But I like it so far. I have a lab tomorrow that I need to study for, now that I think of it," she said.

"But you can't go before you have dessert, you know?" Remus said. "Do you have any ice-cream?"

"Yeah, there's some behind all that other food in the freezer," she told him. Remus got up, opened the door to the freezer, then started to rummage for the ice-cream.

"How often do you have a lab?" James asked.

"Twice a week. It's a fairly light class load until I hit third year when everything increases ten fold." She turned to look at Remus still looking for the ice-cream. "Can you find it? Maybe we don't have any," she said.

"Wait," Remus said. "Eureka! Here's a whole mess of it. You must have some kind of charm on this thing. We've got chocolate chip, french vanilla, mocha, and something else."

James turned to Sirius to ask what flavor he wanted, but Sirius had gone very rigid; his eyes wide with concentration.

"Are you alright?" James asked him.

"What did he say?" Sirius asked slowly.

"He named the flavors, chocolate chip-"

"Before that," Sirius said. "What did he say before that?"

"Remus looked at James and Lily then back to Sirius. "I don't remember," he said.

"Eureka," Sirius said breathlessly. "You said Eureka. E-U-R-E-K-A. I've gotta go," he said suddenly and leaving the flat. Once in the hallway, he Disapparated then reappeared in the Apparation chamber of the IWBI. "Help," Sirius said quickly so the portal would appear. It did, and he walked through it. He ran through the entry room, heard it rush away, then skidded to a halt at the Analysis and Development Unit portal. He walked hastily inside and sat in his revolving chair. There, on his desk, was the intercepted letter, still unsolved. He put it on the magnifier and looked at the last line: Easily understand reeking killer aura.

Sirius took a highlighter and marked 'E', from Easily, 'U', from understand, 'RE' from reeking, 'K' from killer, and 'A' from aura. It was the signature. The letter was from someone going by 'Eureka.'

It took him a while to get the rest of it, using the same method he did to get the signature, but he managed it. To him it didn't make much sense, but it was clear English. 

Taking his sample of the letter, which was marked severely with pencil and highlighter, as well as his translation of it, he put it in a folder, stuffed it in his robes, and left his unit. He was going to give it to Ashika personally.

He passed through the maximum security portal which led to her office.

"May I help you?" the secretary asked.

"I need to speak with Director Narayan," he said hastily. "It's about an intercepted letter; I've broken the code."

"I'll tell her," she said, then left. 

Sirius started to sweat. He had broken his first code! This was huge!

Ashika came into the main room, her face alight with anticipation. "Let me have it," she said. Sirius reached into his pocket for it and gave it to her. She snatched from his hands, threw the original letter back at him, then looked at the message.

Sirius had difficulty reading her face. 

"You're sure this is right?" she asked him.

"I'm pretty sure. Here's how I got it," he said, giving her his draft. She grabbed that and examined it closely. 

"Brilliant. There's no pattern here, none at all."

"What does it mean?" Sirius asked.

"Plenty. Eureka is a new name, we don't have them in our books. They've evaded us."

"What does the rest of it mean?" 

"Maria," Ashika said to her secretary, "kindly escort Mr. Black out of this office," she said.

"But I solved it! I need to know what it means," he said.

"No you don't. And if you share any of it to anyone outside of your unit, I'll have you killed. Do I make myself clear?"

She had a finality to her tone that scared him. "Yes," he said.

"Fine. Now kindly leave my presence. Thank you for solving it," she said, then disappeared into her private office with his letter and the message.

"Well," Sirius said lightly, "that wasn't what I expected." Maria pointed to the portal. "Yeah, yeah, I'm going," he said. He left the portal, wishing he was in Ashika's office figuring out that clue...

Ashika put her feet on her desk and stared at the message. 

"Who are you?" she asked to herself, running a finger over the name 'Eureka.' "But more importantly, where are you?" She put the letter in a drawer, having it memorized, then left her office and headed for security which was just down the hall.

"Director," the man in charge said, "what do you need?"

"I would like all video surveillance on James Potter, and a closer eye on him from this day forward. I want a list of everyone he has spoken to, everyone he has laughed with, everyone who has passed him a slip of paper. I want the film and the list on my desk in ten minutes," and she left.  
  


* * * * * *

* * * * * *  
  


...And now one year has passed.

Some difficulties brew

But you need not worry,

For I'll be sure to review.

So now the clock ticks on

And two years now remain

Which hold more mystery and splendor;

Behold the 'Winds of Change!'  
  


In this End of Innocence

New evils will arise.

They'll corrupt the weak, the strong,

The stupid, and the wise.  
  


Yet this world holds more

Than dark, satanic strife;

It offers to the good

The power to give life.  
  


Through these months, weeks, or days

You have read this story.

You may have laughed or cried,

Scoffed or given it glory.  
  


And now it will continue

To chronicle the lives

Of those who fought or crumbled

To the darkness which will arise...  
  


"James Potter," the woman's voice sounded as he stepped into the War Room. He gave a sideway glance at the map of the world, then descended the few steps, and walked to the back of the room.

"Morning James," a woman said to him.

"Buenos dias Araceli," he said to her. She grinned then went back to work. James stepped through the portal and headed to his office.

"Ready to go to Bangkok?" Amin asked.

"Now? I thought that was tomorrow," James said.

"It was. I've moved it today. Ready?"

"I guess. Artemis," he said tapping his shoulder. She looked at him then flew to his shoulder. "Okay," he said, "all set."

"Great, let's get going." They set out, falcons on their shoulders, to the Apparation chamber. Once there, they looked at each other, nodded, then Disapparated. 

Though it was a normal dreary October in England, Thailand was very sunny and extremely hot. James felt the affect of it very soon and felt as though he might pass out. Amin, who lived in Saudi Arabia, seemed quite comfortable. The falcons were not; they ruffled their feathers to keep cool.

"Station is this way," Amin said, pointing to the east. James nodded.

"Is everyone in position?" he asked.

"Of course." They soon approached a run down shack with a tin roof. Inside, however, it was quite different. It was very dark and much cooler. Screens held camera views from all across the country, and men and women were stationed at various tables throughout the room. James and Amin walked over to two free screens, sat down, and took up the headphones which lay in front of them.

"Take roll," Amin told him as he took a folder from his robes.

James nodded, brought the speaker closer to his lips and spoke. "All units report in," he said. He took a quill and waited for the agents to report before he put a check by their names.

"Three here," a voice came through. "Seven," came another. James marked them off accordingly.

"All units accounted for," James told Amin once all eleven agents had checked in.

"Perfect. Agent four, deposit the package. Five, toss your newspaper." On the screen in front of both James and Mohammed, they saw two people throw trash into a dispenser. "Eight, I need you to block that main entrance." A woman spilled her purse, looking quite accidentally, at the main entrance to the business building. Agent seven helped her pick things up, only he hindered her by flirting with her.

"I don't see our target yet," James said.

"He's late," Amin replied.

James tapped an area on his screen to enlarge it. "Hold on," he said. "He's coming."

To the untrained eye, James was watching a teenage looking boy, not much younger than James. But he knew not to be fooled. How often did a teenager walk through a business building?

"Agent one, target is heading your way, north west. Confirm identity." 

Agent one, an old man in a wheel chair waiting at a door, put an inhaler in his mouth and inhaled it while watching the boy. Instantly, numbers, photos, and medical facts popped up on James's screen, all about the boy.

"Taomi Chao," James said with a grin. "We've got him." Amin didn't grin as fast.

Chao walked down the stairs of the building and made his way for the wastepaper basket. He stopped and looked inside it, then as covertly as possible, removed a tin box.

"No one move," Amin commanded his agents. "Let's see where he goes."

"Maybe two could follow," James suggested, coving his mouth piece. 

Amin nodded. James got back online. "Agent two, follow target at a safe distance." On the screen, James saw a woman in a business suit start to follow him. "We're going to lose visual in a second. Should I send Artemis?" James asked. Again Amin nodded. James took off his head set, walked out of the shack, and told his falcon to take flight and fly south. "Stay high, we don't want him seeing a peregrine in the middle of the tropics." She flew off his shoulder, beat her sharp wings, and ascended high into the sky. James walked back inside.

"She's up. We should have this thing back online in a minute."

"We got agent two tailing him. He's walking through the street markets."

"She won't fit in there," James said. "She's a suit."

"I know. Send eleven in after him."

"Agent Eleven, you got a visual of the target?" James asked.

"Yes," came a voice. "Heading my way."

"Follow him." James tapped his screen and saw an arial view from the falcon. Their target was walking casually down market street. Agent eleven was very close behind him, looking interested at a booth. "I think he'll go into that run down building," James said, pointing to a building which looked as run down as the one they were sitting in.

"Let's hope," Amin said.

James was right. Chao walked inside it.

"Yes!" James yelled. "We've got him." Everyone in the room applauded. 

"Carol, I need you to mark this building as a hub on the network," Amin said with a sigh of relief. "Oh, long minutes of nervousness then seconds of pure accomplishment. Well done, James. Let's head back." 

Moments later, both of them were back in the IWBI War room walking back to their office. "With all the magic we have access to, we still have to file paper work," James said.

"Yeah it's a real pain in the ass. Have any plans for the twenty seventh?" he asked.

"Um...not really," James replied. "Why, what happens on the twenty-seventh?"

"The first annual October Ball. It's a charity thing that the British Ministry is holding to raise money for families who've been victimized by the Dark Lord," he said. "I think you should attend."

"Are you going?" James asked. 

"Yes. Me and the wife, she insists on it. It's supposed to be quite nice, black tie kind of thing. Should be interesting, and it's good for charity."

"What time?" he asked.

"Evening. It's starts at six and goes till whenever. You should take Lily, I'd like to meet her after hearing all about her," he said with a subtle smirk.

"I'll see what her schedule is like. That's a Saturday, right? She's got finals coming in mid November so she's been studying when she has the time."

"It's an evening thing. She's going to need a break from all of that." 

"I'll try to be there."  
  


"So did he say that anyone can go, or is this strictly for those involved in intelligence gathering?" Sirius asked when James told him about the October Ball.

"I'm pretty sure it's most everyone. I'm going to ask Lily about it, but I'm sure she'll want to go." James didn't say more. 

"Guests huh?"

"Yeah," he said nervously.

"Wonder who I can get at this late of notice. It's next week, who's available?"

James didn't answer. 

"Maybe Liz would go with me. Well, maybe that wouldn't be such a hot idea. I could ask Emily, but that's probably not a good idea either. You sure you want to go to this thing?" he asked James.

"Yeah. That is if Lily has the time."

"Pretty girls are hard to find these days. They seem to pool together, you know. Does Lily have any other friends?" he asked.

"Friends you haven't either slept with or cheated on? No," James said. 

"I didn't cheat on Jade, James, you know that."

"Kissing another girl while you're dating Jade is considered cheating," James said with his eyebrows raised.

"We had a huge fight and she was seeing that guy in her office," Sirius said.

"You said that. She denied it and still does. And having a fight doesn't actually mean you've broken up. It sort of needs to be said."

"Whose side are you on?" Sirius asked. 

"I'm Switzerland," James said, as they approached the Apparation chamber. "I think it took two to break you up, but you still cheated on her. She lost herself in work for a little while, you thought she was seeing someone else, you got really jealous and overbearing, and you had a fight. You didn't actually break-up, though."

"I still don't think I cheated on her."

"You got drunk in a bar and kissed Emily when Jade walked in. What do you call it?" James asked.

"I call it being drunk and in no control of my faculties. I was upset because I thought it was over! Can't you see how I can justify this?"

"Yes. Can you see how she justifies it?" he said with a wry smile. 

"I wasn't this critical when Lily broke up with you," Sirius said.

"You threatened to bite me if I didn't fix things, remember? We can continue this at my place," he said.

"Fine." They Disapparated to James and Lily's apartment.

"Is she even here?" Sirius asked as James let them in.

"I think she's got a lecture this evening. Oh, I wouldn't go into that fridge if I were you," he said to Sirius.

"Why not, more of Lily's cooking?" he asked.

"Yeah. She can't get any of the spells right for some very strange reason. Granted she doesn't really spend time on them. She studies twenty-four seven."

"So what do you eat around here?"

"I bring stuff home, already prepared. So we were talking about you and Jade," James said.

"Yeah. You were telling me off for being such a bad person. See, I still think she over reacted to me being with Emily. It was just a kiss, it wasn't like I was in the sack with her."

"Oh that's a nice way to describe it. That image will have me off food for at least a week. Thanks man."

"No problem, but you see my point, right?"

"If you saw her kissing that Kevin guy the way you were kissing Emily, you would forgive her?" He popped his eyebrows up and walked over to the pool table, and picked up a cue.

"Eventually," he said slowly.

"I'm sure you would," James said lightly as he went in for the strike.

"I think I would...yeah...well..." he said scratching his head. "Let's not discuss this anymore," Sirius said. "This happened six months ago, not yesterday."

"It's a good conversation topic," he said jovially, hitting the five ball in the side pocket.

"You're home!" Lily said, as she came in the apartment. She had about five large books in her hands, which James took from her.

"Yeah. This looks like fun," James said sarcastically, looking at some of the titles. 

"Especially this one," Sirius said as he picked up Human Reproduction. "Why is it so big? It's just sex-oh look pictures," he said, as he sat down with the book. Lily lightly laughed, then kissed James.

"I got us Chinese and extra figuring that Sirius would be here," she said, showing them bags of take-out.

"You're the nicest woman I know," Sirius said, though he was still reading from her book.

"Well, I have my moments," she said.

"So what are you doing on the twenty seventh?" James asked her.

"Probably studying," she said, nose wrinkled. "Why?"

"There's this charity thing we could go to. It's to help raise money for victims of Voldemort. You want to go?"

Lily looked down at her stack of books, then back up at him. "Maybe," she said.

"Maybe? Lily you're going to burn yourself out if you don't get a break. I know you want to practice medicine, but you need to relax sometime," James said. Lily looked up at him and frowned.

"It's a lot of work James. I don't have time to kick back and relax."

"I don't like seeing you with bags under your eyes, being so uptight that you can't sit without opening your books. Lily, you get up and you study, you hardly sleep, you hardly eat, you sit and study and that's all you've been doing for two weeks."

"Is this about me or is this about you and your wants," Lily asked, her knuckles leaning on her books. Sirius looked up uncomfortably.

"Both. You have to be a part in my decision making, so I think it only fair that I be in yours. We're married, Lily, we're not two separate people anymore."

"I know that," she said, trying to be calm, but she was on edge. "It's finals, James. In mid-November, when I take them, it'll be over."

"Until next semester. You know how much I want you to be able to reach your dreams and goals," he said. "You've wanted to be a doctor since you were very young, and I want you to have it. But you're torturing yourself. You need to take a break."

"But I can't. If I don't pass this semester then I can't go on to the next one. I need to do all of this studying, just for a few more weeks."

James closed his eyes and sighed.

Sirius got up and started for the door. "I think I'm going to leave you two alone," he said.

"You don't have to leave, Sirius," Lily said. 

"I saw the last fight and wished I wasn't there, so thanks, but I'll leave."

"We're not fighting, were having a discussion," Lily told him. "Stay and have dinner with us."

Sirius looked at the back of James. He was pacing the room with his hands on the back of his head, clearly frustrated.

"You didn't have this much work last year. I assume it's going to get harder next year. And after that, you'll start seeing patients," James said. "You're fourth year at this school is going to be rough on you, but also rough on us. We talked about our future together, but we didn't know how much this would take. We need to figure out what to do. I feel as if I haven't seen you for weeks, and it only gets worse as time goes on. Where is the end to all of this?"

"When I become a doctor," she said.

"In five years. I have to wait five years to see you again." James sighed again.

"Are you saying you want me to quit?" Lily asked, her tone wasn't so kind.

Sirius eased out the door and shut it quietly behind him.

"No. No, Lily, I'm not. I want you to be happy. To be happy, you need to be a doctor. But we have to figure out a way to be married and for you to be a doctor. You have to have some time off, and not just the summer. And you'll hardly have that off. You break in the beginning of July and return in mid August. That's not enough time. I need to see you, and not just see you walking around with your head in a book or making songs to remember what bones are where, I want to be with you. Hell, that's why we're here!" he said in a raised voice.

"Okay," Lily said, taking a deep breath. "Okay, I'll try to budget my time better. I'll limit my studying to eight to nine hours a day."

"That's still a lot. You should see what you look like. You're exhausted, Lily, you need to take a break from all of this."

"James I'm trying to figure this out, just listen to me. I review everything, I'll get into a study group, I'll make this work if it kills me. I'll go to this charity thing of yours, and after that we'll try to start a new regiment thing. How about that?" she asked.

James looked into her tired eyes, nodded, then went to hug her.

"Good," she said, smiling. She loved it when he would hold her. It was such a wonderful feeling.

"I think that was our first argument," he said into her ear.

"We did good. There was no yelling," she said. "Where's Sirius?"

* * * *  
  


.....October 27, 1979.....  
  


"And in reports today, Jill Prewitt of Prewitt Manufacturing calls for the courage of all witches and wizards to stand and face He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," the Wizarding Wireless Network sounded though the livingroom.

"Did that," Lily said silently as she read through yet another text book. Then she looked at her watch. "Oh no," she said. She slammed her book shut, ran to her bedroom, and opened the closet. "He's not going to be happy," she said hastily, taking off her clothes and looking in her closet. "Budget your time, Lily, budget your time!" And of course when your in a hurry, there's nothing to wear. "Crap!" she yelled, throwing dresses and robes on the bed. "All crap!" She looked at her watch again; she was half an hour late. She ran into the bathroom, showered, dried her hair, sprayed it with a special potion which made it smooth and shiny, then threw on a robe and ran out of her apartment, hand bag at the ready.

"They have to hold it at a Muggle facility," she mumbled in disgust. "Now I have to get there slowly, and I still have nothing to wear!" She stomped down the stairs and headed out the building.  
  


James grabbed a martini from a passing tray, then looked at his watch; Lily was late. He walked into the large convention room which was decorated with maroon trappings. There were wizards from all over the world here, but he wanted to see Lily.

"Still not here?" Sirius asked. He was handsomely dressed in very formal robes of billowing black.

"No," James said flatly. "She's not. She's been home all day long and she's not here. She promised she would be."

"And she will. Maybe something came up," Sirius said reassuringly.

"Like what?"

"I don't know." Just then Amin came up to them, his wife at his side.

"So where is Lily, James?" he asked.

"God only knows. I can't believe she's doing this."  
  


Lily told the cab to stop in front of a shop she saw. She dashed out, ran inside, and was quickly assisted and given a black dress. By the time she ran out, her cab had gone. She swore under her breath. Lily, with high heels on, wrapped her robes around her and started walking to the convention center which was a few blocks away.

She saw a short curly hair woman kissing a brown haired man; apparently a newly wed couple kissing in a dentist parlor, which was having it's name changed in the window. She smiled but didn't slow her pace.

A funny breeze rustled some leaves in a tree. Lily looked up. The leaves fell down and swirled around her as if she was caught in some kind of tornado. She slowed down a bit, her eyes sagged in relaxation, and her hips began to sway as she started to walk more like a run way model. The leaves fell down to the concrete sidewalk, then vanished.

Lily smiled devilishly and started to hum a throaty tune. People looked at her strangely, but for some reason it didn't bother her. The convention center was dead ahead; she made her way.  
  


"Have you been talking to her lately? I mean, I know you had an argument but you haven't said if it was the last one," Sirius said, as he and James walked over to their table for dinner.

"Define talking. I swear she's hardly listening to me. Last night during dinner, I was talking to her about that attack, you know? She was zoning out. I had no idea that this med school thing would consume her like this."

"So how long as it been since you..." he hesitated; he was in a formal place.

"Too long. Weeks. She's too tired," he said. He took another long drink then sat down at his table with Sirius and others. 

Suddenly, the music, which had been playing since the start of the event, started to fumble over. People started to whisper to each other.

"That's a woman," a older man, sitting at James and Sirius's table, said with gusto. Sirius turned around first and looked. His jaw dropped. James turned in his chair, too. It was Lily.

She wore a long black dress, a slit cut up one side up to her thigh and her shoulders were bare. Her hair fell down straight and shiny, passed her waist, which James hadn't seen for a long time. She was scanning the room for him, ignoring all the stares she was getting. 

James got up and went to her. 

"Where have you been, I've been worried about you," he said.

Lily moved closer into him, ran her hands up his chest to his face, then smiled; eyes closed. "I'm sorry," she said in a low voice. She leaned on him, tapped his lips with her pointer finger, and giggled at him.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked.

"Nothing," she whispered, kissing him so lightly, he barely felt the touch of her lips on his. "Aren't you going to introduce me to everyone?" she asked in the same seductive voice, her eyes alight with a spark he hadn't seen before. Indeed, she had never acted like this.

"Y-yes," he said.

"Wonderful," she whispered. 

James took her by the hand, Lily squeezed his and watched his face as he took her to their table. Amin Mohammed walked quickly up to James, as well as many other men. Lily didn't look at them; she kept her eyes locked on James.

"This is your wife?" they asked, as if surprised James could have one like her.

"This is Lily," he said looking back on her.

"You're damn lucky," one of them said.

James stared into her eyes. "Yeah," he said.

"Are you going to take me to the table?" she asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Hello, Lily," Sirius said to her. 

"Hello," she said, without looking at him. They sat down. Dinner arrived, which they ate, but Lily didn't take her eyes off James for more than ten seconds, which everyone found rather strange. When discussion turned towards the Dark Lord, she would reach for him and clutch his hand, then kiss his cheek and whisper something in his ear.

When dessert was taken away, speakers went to the podium, including Jill Prewitt, who gave a fervent speech calling for bravery and action from all of them. Lily applauded her, the only one she did, then turned back to the conversation at her table.

"Who knows when he'll be conquered. As far as we can tell there is no diminishing in him or his supporters," Amin said.

"The attacks are becoming more frequent," another would say.

"My brother was killed by him," the elderly man mentioned. "His sixteen year old daughter found him dead, his eyes half open but lifeless."

"He has spies everywhere. It's impossible to tell who they are," James said. 

They kept silent and let the music wash over them.

"Well," James said, breaking the silence, "let's try to have a good time. Lily," he said, turning to her, "dance with me?" he said.

She smiled again, nodded, then allowed him to lead her to the dance floor where many other pairs were dancing.

"So what's really going on with you?" he asked her.

"Nothing," she said. She slung her arm around his shoulder, her other hand in his.

"I'm not buying it. I would say you've been drinking, but you still have total control. First your late, then you appear wearing this truly sexy dress, you say hardly anything, and you can't stop looking at me. Something's gotten into you."

"I feel terrible for how I've been neglecting you," she said. "I've been thinking about you all day, but you were gone."

"Have you been drinking?" he asked. She smiled subtly and shook her head.

He let go of his hold on her and examined her face. Something was very different. It was if Lily wasn't even here, but someone else. Oh he liked it, alright. She hadn't ever been this sensual. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. For some reason, he kept staring into her eyes, drowning in those eyes. She got closer to him, never blinking, not even breathing. Without even seeing it coming, he felt her soft lips on his. Her hands traveled up his back, pulling him closer to him. She exhaled as she drew back from him. But those eyes, he thought. They had always been a source of great attraction, but tonight they were intoxicating him.

He couldn't resist her any longer. He hadn't had this kind of touch for a long while and he wanted it. And by the looks of it, so did she. James pulled her back to him and kissed her as if he'd never see her again. He let his hands move all over her hair and bare back. Either the music stopped playing or he stopped hearing it. She made sounds of pleasure with his movements and smiled into him.

Neither of them realized that half the room was staring at them with gaping mouths. They stood in the middle of the room, making out in a way Sirius had never seen or done himself. James nor Lily took the slightest notice that they were putting on a production. Of course it would be hard to tell; neither of them once opened their eyes.

Sirius had to take action. There were very prominent wizards here, including the Minister of Magic and James's boss. "They've been apart for a while," he said with a light chuckle. He walked over to them; they were becoming more enthusiastic about it. He tapped James on the shoulder. He murmured but didn't open an eye or stop kissing her. "James," he said.

No response.

"James," he said more loudly, tapping him again.

Still, nothing. More people began tuning into the show.

"James!" he said firmly. James pulled slowly back, eyes still shut peacefully. He turned his head to face Sirius. Lily nuzzled her head under James's chin and glared back at Sirius with anger.

"People are watching you," he whispered urgently.

"Hmmmm?" James mumbled, a deary far off look on his face.

"I think you should both leave. Now. Go home, you're causing a scene."

James looked around the room. Yep, people were staring at them. Lily didn't seem to care. She looked up at him and smiled in the same seductive way. She began to kiss his cheeks and neck. James started to succumb to it and went back into her, when Sirius pushed him harder than he intended.

"What is wrong with you?" James said.

"What's wrong with me?" Sirius asked, astounded to hear it. "What's wrong with you? Go home!" he yelled.

Lily looked at James and nodded in agreement. 

"Fine, I will," he said. James took Lily by the hand and walked out of the main room and into the entrance way. The attendant went to get their cloaks. They started again as soon as the attendant had left and had to be tapped by him, blushing, so they could take their cloaks.

"See you at home?" he said, forgetting all about the rule not to Disapparate here.

"Uh huh," she said back. In a pop they were both gone then reappeared instantly in their livingroom. James tripped over an ottoman as he made his way for her. Lily jumped into his arms, wrapped her legs around his waist, then started kissing him again while she began to remove his tie and unbutton his shirt. He started walking towards their room, occasionally bumping Lily into walls. Once there, he set her down then quickly unzipped the back of her dress, which fell to the floor with his shirt and tie. His hands traveled all over her soft back as his lips attacked her neck.

"Sorry about the party," she whispered.

"Don't be," he said into her ear as he steered her toward the bed.  
  


The October sky was cloudy the next day, but a beam of light pierced the gray and lit some spots of England. One of them was an apartment building which held two people, who were still sleeping, though it was well after twelve noon. The woman lay comfortably in her bed, her husband was close by her. Long had they waited for this moment of peace.

Lily stirred first, then opened her eyes to see James resting right beside her. She smiled at him, then reached over to get her watch.

"Oh my," she said lightly. James groaned then yawned. He put his arms up around Lily's back then started to kiss her lightly.

"It's afternoon," she said quietly, looking down on him.

"I'm not surprised," he said with a wry grin. "We were up rather late."

She laughed. "Yes. I still think we're too young to be up that late," she said.

"I think we should do it much more often," he said, rolling them both over so he could look down upon her warm face. "I wish I could see that girl more often, you know."

She laughed again. "I bet you do. I don't know what came over me," she said sincerely.

"Try doing it again some time," he said. "She was great."

"I made a fool out myself in front of all those people and I don't know why. I plead temporary insanity for now."

"You're talking too much," he said before going for her mouth.

"Talking," she said, pushing him away. "Oh no!" She made grab for her watch again. "I missed it! I had a lecture today at eight, and I missed it."

James laughed this time, a deep hearty laugh that even made Lily smile in her time of despair. "Yeah you missed it," he said. "You missed it good. Let's miss it again," he said, trying to get hold of her.

"I'm starving, though. Let's have some lunch or something," she said, getting up and putting on James's shirt, which seemed to look better on her than on him, he thought.

"Food's for mortals," he said, looking at her.

"I know, but it's fun sometimes. Come on," she said. She tossed him his glasses then walked to the livingroom, rubbing her eyes. The owl post had arrived, though it shouldn't have surprised her. She looked through it and found a letter from her mother.

"Mail opening isn't allowed," James said, coming up behind her and holding her. He brushed her hair away from her neck and nuzzled her.

"It's from my mum," she said, ripping it open.

"Another reason to leave it alone."

She unfolded the letter and started to read it. James picked up a funny emotion in her she hadn't had before.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Petunia," she said.

"Dead?" James asked bluntly.

"No," Lily said. "She's having a baby." James let go because Lily pulled away and started pacing around the kitchen as she read the letter.

"Read it out loud," he said.

"Dear Lily," she began. "I finally decided to tell you something that I thought you should know, even though you and your sister haven't been talking. I feel that I should share what's important to me with you, and this is important to me. You see, dear, your father and I are going to be grandparents. Petunia told us when she found out she was pregnant. She and Vernon were surprised but overjoyed by the news. Doctors had told them that they might not be able to conceive, so it's a bit of a miracle. I am so happy that I'll be able to have a grandson or daughter by next year. The baby is due the first week of June, 1980. I've never seen your sister happier. I'm glad this happened to her. I only wish that her new found joy could bring her closer to you. I've suggested Aaron if it's a boy, and Alice for a girl. I'm rather found of A names, seeing as how I have one myself, but they didn't take to them. Wouldn't it be funny for you to suggest a name, which I could give them without telling it was from you, and then they would name it that? Imagine the look on her face when the baby was six months old and telling her, 'Lily thought of a great name for him or her.' I'm hoping for a girl. 

"I hope this letter doesn't make you sad, Lily. I just though you should know that you'll be an aunt very soon. Send James our love, Mum." Lily folded the letter, but continued to stare at it. James thought she did look a little different.

"Poor kid," he said, hoping for a smile.

"I'm going to be an aunt to a child I'll never see," she said, putting the letter back in the envelope. "I'll never get to be cool Aunt Lily. And I am really cool," she said.

"Maybe you will," he said hopefully. But Lily shook her head.

"No, I promised I wouldn't contact her and she clearly doesn't want to see me. Under those circumstances, you would expect her to announce it to the world, but she didn't. She didn't tell me. Not that I expected her to, but..."

"She doesn't seem like the child rearing type to me. She's to obsessed with order," he said, trying to cheer her up.

"We'll have to wait and hear from my parents about that."

"Oh come on Lily, don't let this get you. We had a terrific night, and we're going to have a great day. Don't let a prat like that spoil everything for you. Let's go out for lunch, huh? We'll bring it back here and try to imagine what the poor kid will look like. Fat like dad, or horse-faced like his mum?" he said. Lily smirked.

"Both," she said quietly, unable to resist giggling.

"Probably. Don't you know all about dominant and recessive genes now? We'll have Jade come over and draw a picture of him and you can laugh at the miracle baby she's going to have."

"Yeah," she said. "Where do you want to go for lunch?"

* * * *

....three weeks later....  
  


"Thank God those damn finals are over, now I can have my wife back," James said to Remus, Sirius, and Peter one cold November afternoon. I'm telling you guys, all she did was study. When you decided to get married, make sure she's not going to graduate school."

"I can't even find a girl," Peter said. "I tried talking to one yesterday, but all my words kind globed together and she looked at me funny."

"James did that once," Sirius said. "Fourth year, to Lily. One word: wannabemycharmspartner? She looked at him with so much confusion."

"Yeah well it worked," James said with a smile.

"How's Lily taking this thing with her sister?" Remus asked.

"She's fine with it now, I think. That kid is family she'll have but never meet. That's gotta be tough. I've been trying to joke about it," he said.

"Your cure to everything," Remus said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Mostly," James said. "I told her to imagine her sister fat."

"I saw a pregnant woman yesterday," Peter added. "She was huge. Looked like she'd swallowed a whole watermelon," he giggled.

Remus laughed so hard he spewed his hot coffee all over Sirius's face. 

"There's a woman in my office who's eight months pregnant. Now I've met some mean people," Remus started, "but she is the most wretched woman in the world. She snaps at everyone. I tried talking to her about it, but she threw a stapler at my head, then blamed her rage on the baby."

"A pregnant woman tripped me yesterday," Sirius said. "She did it on purpose, I know it. I really feel sorry for this Vernon guy. I mean I know he's a total ass, but Petunia is already mean. Pregnant women can be really nasty, so put those two together."

"My mum's still picking on me," Peter said.

"You need to move out," James said. "Maybe you could live with Sirius," he suggested. Sirius kicked him under the table.

"Could I?" he asked.

"Um, well, the thing is...I sort of have this different...I have a routine, Pete, and I need space..."

"You want to live alone," he said. "I get the message."

"Great. Tell you what I'll do, though," Sirius said. "I'll tell you a secret about attracting women."

"Okay," Peter said jovially.

"Remember, Peter, Sirius has been dumped before," Remus said.

"Remember, Remus, everyone sitting at this table, and probably in this café have been dumped. So here's the secret: confidence. Women love a man who's confident in himself. All you have to do is believe that who you are is enough to get the most beautiful woman in the world."

"Really?" Peter asked. "James, is that true?"

"Well I think there's more to that, but it's a good start."

"Allow me to demonstrate," Sirius said.

"This is going to be entertaining," Remus said, taking a sip of coffee. Sirius winked at all of them, then walked casually over to the woman at the bar. She looked to be about his age, possibly a little older. She was mildly attractive. She looked up when Sirius came to the bar.

"Can I get you something?" she asked.

Sirius gave her his million watt smile and chuckled. "Well I don't know," he said. "I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of-" he broke off and stared into her eyes. "Wow," he said.

"What?" she asked, smiling a little.

"Did you get those new colored contacts that they're selling to witches these days?" he asked.

"No, I don't need glasses."

"Maybe it's just the light, but you have the brightest eyes I've seen in a long time. You're not wearing those contacts?" he asked slyly, leaning on the counter.

"No," she giggled.

"It seems silly for you to be serving coffee with a gaze like that," he said. 

The girl blushed.

"How does he do that?" Peter asked quietly.

"But I'm avoiding the real issue," Sirius said to her. "I was wondering if I could have another cup of coffee," he said. Her face dropped a little.

"Sure," she said.

"Only tomorrow, here, with you," he said, tapping the bar counter with his finger. 

Her face lit up. "Sure. I'll be working, but I can still get you some coffee."

"Great," Sirius said. He smiled at her again, then went back to the table.

"That was brilliant!" Peter said. 

"It was gross," Remus said. "You just gave her a bunch of mush."

"Which brings me to rule number two, Peter. Girls like mush and romance. You can never go wrong. Now go try it on that group of girls over there." He pointed to a gaggle of girls standing in a corner.

"This isn't a bar, Sirius," Remus said.

"Well you are going for the obvious tonight, aren't you? Peter, be confident and talk to one of them," he said, pointing to them.

"O-okay," he said. He got up from the table and started his long journey over.

"He'll freak out," James said.

"Give him a chance," Sirius said. They continued to watch Peter, who stood two feet away from the girls without saying anything, for thirty seconds. A few of the girls looked over Peter's head and looked at James, Sirius, and Remus instead. After a minute, Peter turned and scuttled back to the table.

"I couldn't. Let's leave," he said. 

James looked at his watch. "The girls are still at my place."

"So?" Peter said.

"It doesn't bother me," Remus said.

"Me neither," Sirius agreed.

"Okay, let's get out of here," James replied, tossing some money onto the table. But just as they got up and headed for the door, one of the girls tapped Remus on the shoulder. He turned around to see who it was, but the girl pulled his face towards hers and kissed him. Sirius, James, and Peter stood dumbstruck as they watched. Remus didn't appear to be struggling against the stranger.

"Hi," she said after she pulled back.

"Hello," Remus said.

"I'm sorry about that. You see, my friends dared me to kiss one of you, and I thought you were the cutest. I hope you don't mind," she said smiling. She was a tall girl, a little on the thin side, but the rest of her was quite unconventional. Her short hair was dyed black with pink and purple streaks running through it. She had three earrings in each ear, and a tattoo of a black dragon around her naval, which could be seen because she wore a white crop top over which were robes she obviously made; they were blue denim with multicolored patches. There were several rings on her fingers and she wore a necklace of a purple butterfly.

"I don't mind. I'm Remus Lupin," he said.

"Sonja Woods," she said, shaking his hand.

"Well," Sirius said, looking at Remus and Sonja stare at each other, "I think we'll just leave the two of you to get acquainted. Guys, shall we?" he said to James and Peter, motioning to the door. They both winked to Remus then walked out and headed back to the James's home.

Lily, Jade, and Liz were still there playing pool and laughing very loudly when the boys came back.

"You're home early," Lily said as James came in.

"Yeah, seeing as how I live here. You like tired," he told her.

"I am. I'm done with finals," she said smiling. "All done for six weeks."

"Hallelujah. So you're too tired to..."

She nodded. "But tomorrow is another day," she said happily. She didn't actually realize how right she was. Once everyone went home, only after Sirius filled them in on Sonja and Remus, Lily and James retired. James fell into a deep sleep very quickly and Lily not too long after him. But before long, she awoke.

Lily felt a strangeness lurking about her, like something was watching her from a hidden alcove. She sat up suddenly, looking around her bedroom as her skin prickled with chills. She looked to her right and saw that James was sound asleep and totally unaware of a presence. Maybe she was just imagining it. Yeah, that must be it. She threw the covers off and swung out of bed to use the bathroom. She walked silently to the door and opened it, quietly stepping inside. She tiptoed to the sink and turned on the water to splash her face, hoping to cleanse herself of the queer feeling that was crawling on her skin. The water was so cool and refreshing as it flowed over her hands. She scooped some into her cupped fingers and splashed her face once, then gazed into the mirror.

At first she felt her heart stop. Before long she could no longer hear the water running in the sink or feel the drops slide down her cheeks. Her breathing quickened as she touched the mirror with her clammy hands.

Her eyes, her once enchanting green eyes, were black. Instead of glowing with magic and love, they looked more like deep, dark, tunnels. She saw her mouth drop in fear in her reflection. She heard her heart thump in her ears and beat against her rib cage. She turned around fast and went for the door knob...but it wouldn't turn. She started beating against the door, screaming so that James would surely hear her, but no sound escaped her throat. She pounded harder, screamed louder, but it was futile. She even continued her effort when she saw the cracks in the door seal up; the bathroom window shrunk to nothingness; the very walls around her closed in on her as she screamed for her life...

She sat up quickly, sweating all over. It was a dream. She breathed hard, looked to her right; James was there. She got out of bed and almost jogged to the bathroom, left the door open, and stared into the mirror. 

Her eyes weren't black, but they weren't her normal green, either. It was as if an electric storm was taking place in her irises. Even in the dark bathroom, they glowed and sparked. A strange heaviness suddenly hit her. She braced herself on the sink, but she couldn't keep herself up. She nearly collapsed as she tried to sit on the toilet but fell to the floor beside it. She clutched her stomach and leaned her head back against the wall, waiting for this to pass. It was as if her head was swimming and her body was trying to catch it.

She looked at a vase holding a closed rose, sitting on the sink top. Lily summoned it to her, she didn't know why she wanted it. She took the rose from its vase and touched it's closed bud with a finger. Instantly, it opened up and vibrated red. As she held it, more buds began to sprout from the stem, the petals grew, the color changed to purple. Lily forgot about her pain. She sat up, took the rose in her hand, then left her bedroom and headed for the spare room which held many flowers.

Each one she touched grew instantly. "Oh," she said loudly as a carnation doubled its size with her touch. "Ah," she said, giggling as they all seemed to obey her wishes.

"Lily," James said groggily. "What're you doing? It's two in the morning." He wasn't wearing his glasses so his face looked strangely naked. 

"Nothing," she said. "I'll be back in a second."

James made a funny noise then sauntered back to bed. Lily kept to her promise and followed behind him. He crawled back into bed, pulled the covers back over him and closed his eyes. Lily got on her side, but moved to his, getting on top of him.

"Lily, what's come over you?" he asked.

"Shhhhhh," she whispered, her finger to her lips. James sat up, but Lily roughly pushed him back down. 

"It's two in the morning," he said. She kissed him to shut him up; it was more like biting, actually. She didn't stop when he slightly recoiled, but continued to push him down.

"Two in the morning," she said, pulling back from him. "Should that mean something to me?" she asked in a low voice.

Whether it was slight fear or deep curiosity, James didn't know. "No," he said. "I was simply stating a fact." He grabbed the back of her head and pulled himself up to her lips, then rolled her over.  
  


The next morning held many surprises. James showered, got dressed, and made breakfast like he had for many months, now, preparing himself for work. But Lily wasn't herself, and it worried him.

Sirius dropped by saying he'd left something from the night before. Lily came into the room.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, like he was an invader.

"Getting this," he said, holding up his I.D. badge. 

"Now get out!" she yelled.

"What?" he asked, giving a sideway glance to James.

"You heard me. I want you out!" She ran after him, but James stopped her and held her back.

"What's wrong with you?" James asked.

Lily shook her head and started to cry. "Nothing," she said.

"Did I do something wrong?" Sirius asked.

"I said get out! Why are you here all the time? What do you want from us!" she screamed. "Why can't you leave us alone. James is mine, not yours. Go away!" she cried. James kept hold of her, but she was trying to attack Sirius.

"Lily," James said in a quavering voice, "please tell me what's wrong. This isn't you." She burst into tears and buried her face in his robes. "You're scaring me," he said to her. "What's the matter with you?"

"Don't leave me," she mumbled. "Please don't leave me."

"I'll never leave you," he said, as if the idea was ridiculous. "Please tell me what's wrong," he pleaded with her. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head again, then drew away and looked around the kitchen. She moved to the counters, looked at knives, scoffed, then put them in drawers. Sirius looked at James with concern. Lily walked over to the pool table, took the cues and put them on top of the cupboards in the kitchen. Then she put the pool balls in a box and put them up with the cues. She started to laugh.

"What's funny?" James and Sirius asked.

"I don't know," she said, giggling. "You know what I think, though?" she said, swaying over to him, moving her hands over James's chest.

"What?" he asked.

"I think you should stay home with me. We could have a good time," she whispered.

"Lily, I have to work today."

She frowned. "You're seeing someone else, aren't you?" she asked, crying again. "I'm not good enough for you? What's she like? Is she pretty?" 

"I'm not having an affair!" he said. "Lily what is wrong?"

"Maybe it's left over stress," Sirius suggested.

"Shut up!" Lily yelled at him.

"Is it stress? Did finals really get you like this?" James asked.

"Maybe," she said, now sobbing. "Probably." Lily picked up a napkin from the counter, wet it with her mouth, then wiped parts of James's face. "You've got some crusty stuff here," she said.

"Are you going to be alright, when I go into work today?" he asked. "I'll try to get off early."

She nodded. "Yeah, sure, why wouldn't I be?"

James tried scanning her face, as did Sirius. "I don't know," he said, going along with her. "I'll see you this afternoon. Be careful today, alright?" he said, going to kiss her goodbye.

"Yeah, you too," she said.

"I love you," he said, looking into her eyes so she would know it.

"I love you back," she said smiling.

"Okay. Um...goodbye for now," he said, pushing Sirius out the door.

"Bye," she waved. When the door closed, Lily relaxed. She went to the fridge and grabbed a chocolate bar. But the first bite was disgusting. She looked at the date of expiration, but it wasn't for months. She threw it away, then got some marshmallows and strawberry jam, which tasted very good together. She stared at her stack of library books for school, then flipped through some of them.

It was different to look at the books now that it was over. She picked up Human Reproduction and skimmed it, cooing at pictures of babies both in and out of the womb.

There was a picture of a mother holding a pink carnation; she was smiling. Lily read the caption underneath: 'Pregnancy carnations are one hundred percent accurate in determining whether a woman is with child and now even come with, if chosen, abilities to determine the sex. Angela (above) will be having a girl.'

Lily smiled, then flipped back a few pages and picked up the words "strange dreams" which peeked her interest. It was under the caption "First weeks of pregnancy." Lily started the column.

'Witches are usually unaware of pregnancy during the first two weeks for little emotional and physical changes take place. Some witches are only aware of a change if their menstruation cycle is late.'

Lily looked up. She looked at the calender on the opposite wall...she was late but assumed it was normal. After all, she had been late before. She went back to the book.

'During the third week of pregnancy, however, certain behaviors start to take place. One of the first signs is a series of strange dreams focusing on fears (arachnid, vertigo, cloister-phobia) which include the loss of control of voice, sight, or touch. These dreams occur frequently but discontinue in the fifth week of pregnancy. Also in these weeks are behavioral changes. Most common is an increased sexual appetite, a fear of losing her mate, sudden mood changes, dislike of favorite foods, and a nesting period (removing dangerous objects such as knives, wands, heavy projectiles, from reach). These stages are quite different from Muggle pregnancies, so many women are unaware of their health until a visit to a doctor, or mention of these behaviors to her parents.'

Lily shut the book quickly. Surely this couldn't be happening to her. They had been on contraceptive charms since the wedding day and hadn't lifted them. This was impossible. It was stress, it had to be, James was right. Stress. It was stress, she told herself. So she was feeling a bit frisky since last night, that meant nothing. She had been too busy and tired to engage in such activities while preparing for finals, and now that they were done, she could. Yes, yes, that was it.

Lily sighed, piled the books up and left her apartment. She was going to return the books to the school library. She Disapparated to it, put the books in the slot and started out again, when David, one of her classmates, stopped her.

"Lily!" he said. "You look radiant."

"Yeah, well I had sex last night," she said before she could stop herself. David looked at her strangely. "I don't know why I just told you that."

"Me neither," he said. "I'll see you around." He left, mumbling to himself. Lily walked to the Obstetrician department, saw a doctor in a classroom, picking up her things. Lily opened the door.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"I think so. Um, I'm a student here, and I have this friend, you see," Lily started, using her hands to tell the story. "She's been acting a little strangely; having weird dreams, being really moody, lashing out at friends...so I was wondering if she was maybe...you know...pregnant? She and her husband have been using contraceptive charms for well over a year. Is it possible she could still..."

"Of course," the doctor said.

Lily's stomach did an uncomfortable flip.

"But I thought those were bomb proof," she said in what she hoped was a light tone.

"No. They're very good, but they can be beaten. They're usually only good for a year, then you have to renew."

"They did," Lily said.

"Well, don't know what to tell you. Have you taken a test yet?" she asked.

"No...I," she looked up and saw the doctor was smiling.

"It was obvious. Those charms can get very tricky. A lot of them have requirements...I would rather not get into the details, if you know what I mean. Levels of....passion...can knock them out of place. If I were you, I'd take a test. You can get them here in the health center. Now, those are one hundred percent accurate so you'll know for sure. Good luck," she said, then left.

Lily stood in the classroom for several seconds before making her way to the health center. She hadn't been in here before. It looked much like a Muggle pharmacy. Lily walked slowly to the pregnancy isle. She tried to look as though she was just strolling along, minding her own business, then she reached over and grabbed the first one she saw, and booked out of the building as if it were blazing. She got back home, slammed the door behind her, and ran to her bathroom.

She set the cover down on her toilet then sat on it. She looked at the box, opened it, and pulled out a green stem, and an instruction paper which she read:

'Hold the carnation stem in both of your hands. Taking deep cleansing breaths, stare into the center of the stem (a black dot should be visible). If positive, a flower will bloom. If negative, stem will not bloom. To see the sex, match the color of the carnation to the chart below.' Lily didn't look at the chart; she didn't know she took one of the sex matching tests. She tossed the paper aside, pulled the stem out of the plastic, and held it firmly in both hands.

"It's stress," she said. "I'm not going to have children until I finish med school. James and I have this planned," she told herself. "Kids in six years at least. We had a discussion," she mumbled. "I'm doing this just to prove that it's stress."

Lily took deep breaths, sighed, then looked down on the black dot and concentrated on it.

It bloomed. It budded, then opened and grew ten times in two seconds. Then it started to change from white, to sky blue, to blue, dark blue, then finally it fluctuated to the darkest midnight blue, almost black, she had ever seen. Lily breathed in short breaths. She was pregnant; she was going to have a baby. A very peculiar feeling came over her, one she couldn't describe because it wasn't one emotion.

But what was the sex? She knew this much, she might as well know the rest.

Lily reached timidly for the chart...she debated looking at it. Thoughts like, 'what am I going to do', or 'how am I going to tell James', kept popping into her mind all as she looked at that chart. She grabbed it and looked at it. There was a graph showing different shades of blue, white, to different shades of pink. Lily matched her color with the one on the graph. It was ninety-nine percent sure. She was going to have a boy.   
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Yay! It finally happened, right? Sorry if some spots were slow, I had to set it all up. Now, for those of you that know the stages of pregnancy and the emotional changes that follow, good for you. I have made my own for witches so please spare the corrections if you have any for me. There will be more on Sonja Woods, the issue from Bangkok, the code Sirius broke (which will be revealed in its totality in the future) and Lily will go back to the Fortress of Shadows. Jill Prewitt will be developed, Lily will be a basket full of emotions, and more changes will occur in relationships, all of them. And now you have seen our little hero, well not actually seen him, but you know more than Lily does. Thank you for joining my Yahoo Group. I will be posting an essay titled "Lily's seeming perfection" for those of you who think she's too good for life and characterization. My Yahoo Group is now under "Fan fiction" rather than "Adult/HarryPotter/Fan Fiction" so now all people of all ages can view it. The URL won't work on this page, so you'll have to click my name "CK Talons" which will take you to my author page. Click the URL under my "Home Page" category. Thanks a bunch.


	27. The Winds of Change

***The Marauder Chronicles; The End of Innocence is a fan fiction. Events taking place are not to be taken as true to events prior to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. This story isn't to be duplicated or sold, no copyright infringement is intended upon J.K. Rowling.***

Author's note: If you're going to leave a review, please do not use profanity. If you do I will remove it or report you to abuse and block you. While I appreciate many of you coming to my defense when I've been attacked by another user, please respect others opinions and do not use vulgarity. If you are a reader who finds this story boring and you leave a review after reading 26 chapters telling me it's boring....it doesn't make sense. Please be aware of your contradiction when you leave a review on chapter 26 or 27 and you tell me I'm boring and unimaginative. Sorry this one took so long. 

Four: The Winds of Change

Well I just heard the news today;

It seems my life is going to change.

I close my eyes, begin to pray,

then tears of joy stream down my face.

~Creed

Lily's heart started to beat out of control. A sudden heat wave overtook her, sweat started to pour down her face, and her head began to swim. Never in her life was she filled with these kinds of emotions, but she couldn't even describe them. There was some kind of warm complete feeling in the pit of her stomach, but at the same time she had a nervous fear that seemed to eat away at her heart. All of these strange feelings hit her like a freight train.

She had to relax. She had to. She tried taking deep, soothing breaths, leaning back to help her. But so much information, questions about the future, questions about the present, questions about the tiny person growing inside her, popped into mind. She wished she could stop the inflow of these thoughts. What about medical school? How would James handle it? Would she be a good mother? What would he be like? Was he healthy? Would he be smart? What about all that was going on? What kind of person was she to bring a new person into a world so full of turmoil and terror?

She couldn't sit here and relax. Lily got up very suddenly, the carnation still glowing blue in her hand. She started pace her apartment. Stop thinking, she shouted in her head. 

"What am I going to do?" she asked herself, pulling the hair out of her head. Nineteen. She was nineteen years old and pregnant. "James," she said. "He has to know. We're having a son. A son," she said, beginning to cry. She held up her carnation to the light, then rubbed her stomach where her baby resided. Should she laugh, cry, or run around the city flailing her arms in the air? She didn't know what she should do.

James walked out of his office, out of the War Room, and into the main hallway. He and Sirius had planned on having lunch, but Sirius wasn't known for his punctuality.

It was a very strange few minutes as he stood there. At least seven people, whom he had never spoken with, grinned at him. A few of them slapped his shoulders in a congratulatory kind of way, though he didn't know why.

"I'm so hungry I could eat an ox," Sirius said, coming out of his office.

"That's a nice mental image. Hey, have people been saying things about me?" James asked.

Sirius shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of. Why?"

"Nothing I guess."

He and Sirius walked to the dining area to find that James received some moderate applause. A few people even shook his hand.

"That is weird," Sirius said. "Did you do something praiseworthy but didn't tell me?"

"I don't think so. Maybe it's because the holidays are coming, and I've said no to my in-laws coming over?" he said with a wrinkled nose.

"Somehow I just don't think that's it. Very brave though it was, it's not that significant." James spent the most of his time at lunch thinking about what he could have done to deserve such accolades from people he had never seen before. They appeared, mostly, to be from the Intelligence Sector, to which he didn't belong, so maybe they knew something that he didn't. Then again, it could be a prank Sirius had founded. 

James was interrupted in his thoughts by Guy Burgess, his acquaintance in the Intelligence sector. They had met a few times a week to discuss various Quidditch teams, family, and politics on the world stage. James had come to enjoy the time he spent with Guy; he was pretty easy going and had a fairly quick wit about him.

"James, how the hell are you?" he asked.

"Pretty good. Hey, is there any news about me in your neck of the woods?" James asked.

Guy gave him a funny expression. He cocked his head to the side and made a half smile. "Not exactly. There was a rumor going around, but no one knows if it's true. But I doubt very much that you want to hear it from me."

James raised his eyebrows. "Is it good news?"

"I think it might be. I'm sure you'll learn about it soon enough. But I was thinking about something else, to be quite frank. Have you noticed that people have been watching you a little more closely?"

Sirius, who had remained uninterested in the conversation, suddenly tuned in. His job had made him very acute when it came to human behavior, a tool that would never really leave him. 

"Yeah. I think it's because I'm going to be on my own. Amin has been voicing the fact that I may be ready to be cut loose. Maybe they want to watch me, see how I act, make sure I'm stable."

"Hmmm," he said, bringing his hand to his mouth.

"What's the problem, Guy? Getting a little paranoid in your old age?" Sirius asked. He tried to read the body language, look into his eyes, and see if there was something there, but he detected nothing serious.

"No," he laughed. "I've noticed that the security team is getting a bit anxious around here. It's been a while since we've had a double agent so they're probably getting bored. And I'm not old, Sirius," he said.

"What are you doing for the holidays?" James asked, trying to be polite.

"I'm seeing family in San Francisco," he said. Sirius started listening again. "My girlfriend wants me to meet her parents, and they live there, but so does my brother so it kind of evens out."

"Oh, that's not fun. I remember when I met Lily's parents. Ouch," James said with a laugh.

"San Francisco, huh?" Sirius asked. "California, right?"

"Yeah," Guy said, as though it were completely obvious.

"I can't remember my history correctly, but wasn't that the state of the gold rush in the 1840's?" he asked. Sirius put his cup down on the table and stared back into Guy's eyes.

"Yes, it was. Quite the historical breakthrough. It led to California's being one of the most populated states. People flock where money is involved. Why do you ask?" he said slowly. James also gave Sirius a piercing look.

"Curiosity, I guess. They say it's a lovely place," he said casually, but inside he was jumping for joy.

"Some of it is. Weather sure is nice. Very distinct seasons, not like England. Thinking of visiting?"

"Perhaps. I've gotta run, I have some files to look at. I'll see you later, James. Till next time, Guy." Sirius got up, took his cloak, and did his best not to sprint out of the room. He had to be cool, had to be calm...yeah right. Sirius, he thought to himself, if you were any cleverer you'd outsmart yourself. You got him, baby.

Remus never thought of himself as smooth, or Mr. Popular. In school James and Sirius were considered just that, and maybe, because he was associated with them, some people thought of him in that way. But it wasn't until now that he actually believed it.

He found himself one morning in a very strange room, part of an odd house behind a shop in Diagon Alley. It almost glowed, probably because of the many crystal balls lining the walls. But the effervescent glow wasn't the only thing he liked about it. 

He looked over to his right. There she was, napping at the moment, but there. Remus rolled over on his side then stroked her multicolored hair. She murmured through her smile then snuggled up to him.

"Hi," she said, though her eyes were still shut.

"Hello, Sonja," he whispered, kissing her forehead.

"You're fun," she said lightly. She raised her head then put her mouth to his. Remus welcomed this; he liked how seemingly gentle and tender she was. "And cute," she said, as she rolled to be on top of him. 

"Have dinner with me tonight" he said.

"Again?"

"Yes. It's a human requirement, so you might as well do it with company," he told her.

"I know," she said shyly. She ran her hands over his bare skin and laughed to herself.

"What is it?" he asked.

"What you must think of me," she said. "This isn't common for me. Though I realize you've never done this before," she said.

"You're right about that, but I don't think anything's wrong with you. There's nothing wrong with a free spirit. I think we might be talking a little too much, though," Remus said as he placed his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her toward him.

"I have to go to work," she said before kissing him. "I have a shop to run," she said again.

"Can't you look into the future and know when your next customer enters?"

She giggled but eventually got up and started looking for her clothes.

"I want you to meet my friends," Remus said.

"Why, so they can put in their two cents worth?" she asked.

"No, I just want you to meet them. We usually convene at James's place, seeing as how it's the nicest. I know they'd love you."

"Everyone loves me," Sonja said with a perky smile. "You can stay as long as you want, but I have my shop to keep. Why don't you leave your friends' addresses, and I'll drop by sometime."

"Alright. I'll see you tonight?"

She answered with a giggle. "Goodbye, you," she said before giving him a deep kiss.

"Bye," he said faintly, watching her leave.

Jade flipped through her expandable file, looking for her report, when her timer went off. "Time for lunch," she said, throwing her file on her desk casually. She was having lunch with Lily and Liz today, something she hadn't done in a very long time. 

The door of apartment three on the second floor announced her name and allowed her to enter. Lily was pouring drinks at the table, and cooking something in the kitchen.

"You're early," Lily said with a smile. 

"I'm stubbornly punctual," Jade replied. She entered, deposited her attaché by the door, and went to help Lily with the lunch. "You didn't have to cook anything," Jade said, in more of a fearful tone rather than gratitude.

"I didn't," she said. "I just came back from the store. I got us bacon burgers."

Jade almost laughed. "Bacon burgers? Wow, that's a surprise."

"Why?" Lily asked.

"Well, you're miss health conscience. Especially now that you're going to med school.... bacon's a little greasy. I love it, but I can feel my arteries clogging with each bite. Isn't Liz a bit of a vegetarian?"

"Yeah. I made accommodations. This is just for us," Lily said. 

Liz came in not too long after, pinching her nose to keep the scent of the meat out of her nostrils. "I'll never understand how people like the two of you can eat dead cow. They are just so cute with their little brown eyes and cute faces."

"I might listen to you if you didn't wear leather," Jade said lightly.

"It was so nice of you to have this," Liz said, ignoring Jade's remark. 

"Well," Lily said, "now that I'm out of school, I just thought it would be nice to get together and talk about stuff."

"I don't have anything to say. My life is really, really boring. The whole world is in a tailspin, and I'm bored. It's a very strange feeling," Jade said.

"Still no boyfriend yet?" Liz asked.

"Of course not. This is me we're talking about here. Sometimes I think I'm still not over Sirius. I hate the fact that he's so damn good looking and charming, not to mention smart, witty, and so sweet at times. I hate that."

"He is a charmer alright," Liz said, flipping her hair out of her face.

"How would you know about it?" Lily asked. She put a large salad in front of Liz and a burger for her and Jade.

"I went to school with him for seven years," Liz said.

"No, no," Lily said. "I picked up some tension with your statement, didn't you Jade?"

"Yes. Is there something you're not telling us?" Jade asked.

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, the door announced that Sonja Woods was at the door.

"Who is that?" Jade asked. Lily felt uneasy. She supposed that with her condition she would be a little weary about strangers; she didn't like that. Still, she was curious about Sonja, especially after what Sirius had said about her. 

Lily got up, looked through the peephole, and opened the door.

"You look like Lily?" Sonja said, pointing at her.

"Yes, that's right," Lily responded. 

"You're married to the tall, skinny guy with the glasses," Sonja said, still pointing.

"I guess. He's not that skinny, though, really. Um...is there something I can do for you?" Lily asked.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm Sonja, I know Remus. He said he comes over here a lot. He really wanted me to meet his friends...so here I am," she said.

"I see. Well, James and Sirius are his best friends, but you can come in if you want. We're having lunch, but there's plenty to go around."

"If you don't mind eating cow," Jade said from the background.

"I like cow," Sonja said. Lily smiled and held the door open for her. "You're Jade," she said pointing to her. Jade, whose mouth was rather full, nodded and winked. "So you're Liz," she said, like it was a huge revelation.

"What did he say about me?" she asked.

"Ex boyfriend stuff. Okay, I'm Sonja Woods. I own 'Future's Eye' down in Diagon Alley. My hobbies are fortune telling, palm readings, and playing the guitar," she said.

The three women looked at her with shock. "Thank you," Lily said finally. "Sit down, please."

"I'm sorry I came without sending an owl, but Phoebe hasn't been feeling well," Sonja said.

"That's fine, we were just talking about school stuff," Liz said.

"Actually we were discussing your relationship with Sirius," Jade said, looking back to Liz.

"I didn't have one with him."

Sonja leaned over and asked Lily something, then she proceeded to the bathroom. Liz and Jade suddenly changed the topic.

"Was that a dragon tattoo?"

"Five piercings?"

"What color hair would you call that?"

"She was kinda cool, kinda weird."

"She seems really nice, though. She looks older than us."

"Remus is dating an older woman? I never saw that coming."

"Do you think he told her about him being...?"

"Not likely. Let's not bring that up."

"So what have you been keeping secret, Liz?" Lily asked.

Liz considered them for a moment. "Fine, I'll tell you, but you can't tell Sirius that I told. When we were fifteen, at the end of our fifth year, we kinda had a little thing."

"What's a 'little thing'?" Jade asked.

"A thing. Please don't make me say more," she said.

Jade let her mouth drop. "Elizabeth Banks!" she said. "You slept with him, didn't you? Fifteen? That's so young, and so very wrong! And with Sirius! My Sirius!" she said.

"I know. It was a terrible mistake, and we both knew it afterwards, but I can't go change it now can I? We were stupid and young-- " Liz said.

"That's no excuse," Jade said.

"I know it's not," Liz said, pounding her fist on the table. "But what's done is done. I wish I had never done it but you can't cry over spilt milk. Anyways, it was a really long time ago, and there's nothing going on with us," she said, starting her salad.

"So now that all of the awkwardness is out of the way, what was it like?" Lily asked. Jade couldn't believe Lily was taking it so casually, but Liz laughed at Lily then grabbed her hand.

"I have a friend I can talk to about sex," she said. "About bloody time."

"Hey," Jade said, "don't leave me out even though I'm good law abiding virgin," she interjected.

"So it's not your pregnancy test?" Sonja asked as she came back into the room, carrying the empty pregnancy test box in her hand.

Lily flushed purple. How could she have forgotten it was still in the bathroom? She knew that both Liz and Jade had their gaping mouths wide open, though she wasn't facing them. Lily stood up and took the box away from Sonja.

"I'm sorry," she said to Lily, and she looked it.

"It's really not your fault. I'd be curious too," but Lily didn't know why she said that. This woman had just invaded her privacy and told her friends about her current state of health that even her husband didn't know about. She should kick this woman out! 

Lily turned back around to face her friends, and sure enough they were both stunned. 

"You're..." Liz started.

Lily bent her head, tossed the box on the table, then slid back into her chair. She ran one of her shaking hands through her hair and sniffled. "Yeah," she said quietly, "I am."

Jade leaped out of her seat and hugged Lily tightly, smiling joyfully. "Oh my gosh!" she said, almost jumping. But Lily wasn't showing any signs of elated emotions. "Aren't you happy about it?" Jade asked. "Don't you want children?"

Lily looked into her friend's dark eyes which were full of the happiness that she should be feeling, as the new mother, but wasn't. Lily's mask fell down to the ground and shattered into a million pieces. She could feel the pressure mounting behind her eyes, and soon the dam of security sprung a leak; she began to cry, one tear at a time. Liz got out of her chair and hugged her.

"Oh sweetie," Jade said soothingly. "It's going to be alright."

"I wish I could be happy about this," Lily managed through a sudden sob. "I wish I could be happy."

"Did you find out today?" Liz asked. Lily nodded into them. "Does James know?" She shook her head. "Why are you so sad about this?"

Lily pulled back and stood up, wiping the moisture off her face. "It's so selfish. But I know that because of this I won't be able to finish school. I've wanted to go to med school for a long while. I'm doing so well and now this. We planned to have kids after I got my license to practice medicine, not before."

"Lily," Jade said, "you're not doing this alone. You have such a great man to help you take care of this baby. James is so perfect. He'll be a great father, and you'll be a great mother."

"Yeah," Liz said. "You can still go to school. James will be there as much as he can and you still have your parents to help you. You can finish school with a baby. I bet people do it all the time."

Lily knew that wasn't true. Married couples often divorced as they went through, which Lily had been told, had personally seen, but that little statistic was never written in the fancy catalog the school had sent her (not that she would have given it credibility). She was already having arguments with James about how much time she spent studying. She was at the top of her class because she studied so hard; she wanted it desperately. The pregnancy came at a very bad time.

"It's so weird to feel like this. I want my school, I want to be a doctor, but I want him too," she said, touching her tummy.

All talking ceased. "Him?" they all said. Lily nodded. 

"Yes. I really shouldn't have told you any of this. I need to tell James. He needs to know he's going to be a daddy. God I'm so scared. I'm so scared," she said, dissolving into tears again.

Sonja moved in for the group hug. "I don't know you, but you seem really nice," she said.

"I'll help take care of him," Jade said, grinning. "I'll be your most frequent visitor. You can always call me to help baby-sit. Gosh, Lily, you need to see the good side like you normally do. You're going to be a mother! You're going to have a little baby boy. He's going to be smart, curious, and brave like his parents," she said to her. "I envy you. I wish I had this, though I know it doesn't matter. But look at the bright side; you and James are bringing a little person into the world, a little Potter. And he'll love you so much," she said, watching Lily's face brighten ever so slightly. "He'll love you so much, Lily. Everyone does. And if they don't it's because you're so perfect, and they just want to smack your pretty face because you're beautiful and talented. Damn it, Lily, you're good at almost everything. You'll be able to handle this, I know it."

Lily dried her eyes with her shirtsleeve. "There are so many things," she said, "so many variables. I can't help but look in the paper and wonder what kind of people we are, to bring a new person into the world. Granted we didn't plan this, we actually took measures against it."

"You guys broke the charms?" Sonja asked. "Wow."

For some reason that made Lily grin. "It is a bit amazing," she said.

"I'll say," Sonja replied.

"So maybe this was meant to happen," Jade said. "Maybe you were meant to have this baby, for a reason we don't yet know. Don't worry so much; everything is going to be fine."

Lily looked at the three of them and nodded, trying to smile. "Thanks," she mumbled. She reached for all of them again, her heart a little lighter.

Sirius drove his motorcycle to the local library, parked under a tree, then jogged inside. "History," he said to the librarian. She pointed to the appropriate section then went back to her work. Sirius walked briskly past the stacks, into the section he wanted, and started to scan the book titles.

"United States History," he mumbled to himself, moving his finger along the titles. He finally stopped at a rather large volume, which he took off the shelf and examined.

"California," he said to himself, flicking the pages until he landed on the page he wanted. He grinned as he read the state trivia, but at the same time felt a disappointment inside him. He slammed the book shut, checked it out of the library then went back to the IWBI where he met with Ashika Narayan for a small conference. 

"What do you have?" she asked.

"Oh no you don't, not this time. I need to be involved in this as much as you need to know about it. Let's step into that very secure office of yours and discuss it," he said.

Ashika frowned, but led him to it. "Alright, here we are. Now what is so important that you had to interrupt me?"

"I know who the mole is, at least one of them."

Ashika sat down at her desk and folded her hands. "I'm listening."

"There is always something to a name, and I assume you have tried finding meaning to each of the code names but most of them are so vague. But Eureka isn't."

"I know all of this, Black, tell me who Eureka is."

"Guy Burgess."

Ashika stared at him, shook her head, then stood again. "No, no, no. Burgess is one of our best Historians in the Intel division. He's been with us long and most people trust him."

"Eureka is Greek for 'I have found it,'" Sirius explained. "Eureka is the state motto of California, given to it after the gold rush. Burgess was born and raised in California. He said today that he was visiting family there, and that's when it hit me. It's him."

"There are a number of people from California," she said. "It's heavily populated. I find it hard to believe that Burgess is a double agent especially with his record of service."

"Do you think I want to believe this? He's a great guy on the surface, but inside he's a spy. Though he's not married, and the clue said he was."

"No, it didn't. It wasn't talking about him. I'll have tighter security around him from now on. Don't tell anyone about this because it might not be true, but even if it is I want to catch him. I'll have a check on everyone born and living in California. Here," she said, hading him a file. "These are the code names for the agents we know about." 

Sirius opened it. It was a short list of names; all of them had just one word. "Queen," he said. "Could that be a woman? Or is it someone who's second in command like Wilhelm Canaris?"

Ashika went a little pale. "God it could be," she said. "We might be on to something here. Wilhelm is the vice director of the Bureau, so it'll be near to impossible to get surveillance on him, which makes it hard for us to capture him. Black, you're good," she said.

Sirius grinned.

After a long and pressing day at work, James headed home. It had been a long time since he had been this tired; all he wanted to do was go to sleep for ten years.

He found the apartment in semi-disarray, but he didn't have the energy to think too much of it. "I'm home!" he called through the flat, but no one answered. "Lily? Are you here?" Still no response. He closed the door behind him, looked at Artemis perched on his shoulder, then sighed. "Women," he said to his falcon. "What's with the flowers she's got going on?" he said, touching the petals of a blue flower sitting in a vase. "Lily, are you here?"

Artemis launched off James's shoulder and flew through the apartment to her perch for a nap. "Good idea." He took off his tie and robes, unbuttoned his shirt, and was just about ready to hit the sofa when Lily came back.

"You're here," she said, surprised.

"I do live here, you know. Why, are you hiding some stud under our bed?" he asked, laughing at his own joke. "Where were you?"

"I went to my school for a little while. I talked to a professor, asked some questions, took a few tests."

James sat up and pinched his nose. "I thought you were done for six weeks, until January. Please tell me you're not taking any more classes," he said sternly.

"I'm not taking any classes," she said. She lowered her eyelids, smirked, and started walking towards him in a seductive way. She pulled her jean jacket off and threw it across the room.

"Lily," he said in a sing song sort of way, "are you sure you're feeling alright? You've been acting very weird lately."

"Mmmm." She sat beside him and ran her fingers through his hair. 

He grabbed her wrist and turned to face her. "What's the matter? Something is very different about you, and I want to know what it is."

"Something happened to me," she said.

"Oh my God, what? Did someone try to hurt you?" he asked urgently.

"No. Nothing like that, it's far simpler actually. We're going to have to change...everything."

James tilted his head and furrowed his brow. "I'm not following you."

Lily got off the sofa and went back to the kitchen to get her carnation. She put it in James's hands. "This. You and I discussed this and having this. However we didn't plan on it so soon. But we're going to have to do it. And quite honestly I don't think I'm ready for it, and even though I've been thinking about it all day, and going back and forth on the issue each hour, I know for sure that I am too young, too inexperienced, and too busy to handle a commitment of this magnitude."

James set the flower on the coffee table, then slowly turned back to face his wife. "Are you saying that..." he stopped. He heaved a heavy sigh then put his hand to his eyes. "You're..."

"Yes James. I know this is sudden, but I obviously can't help it."

James got up suddenly then kicked the table.

"You're really upset," she said, trying not to cry. "I didn't think you'd be so...livid."

"Why wouldn't I be, Lily?!" he yelled. "I put up with you being gone all the time for your school, try to have a good team player attitude about it, and now this? How can you do this to me? What about me? I didn't ask for this kind of treatment from you!"

Lily stood up, but her knees were too weak. "I was hoping you would be the happy one about it," she said, near tears. "I thought you would want this? What am I supposed to do?"

"What!" he yelled. "You're the one who wants the divorce!"

"Divorce?" she said.

"That is what you're talking about, right? Commitment of such magnitude? Our marriage!"

"No," she said in shock. "I'm not talking about that at all."

James stared at her, stopped huffing and puffing, then suddenly felt very stupid and horrible for bringing something like that up. "Oh," he said, looking quite humiliated. "I'm sorry," he said, seeming a bit confused. "I'm tired and my mind is going to the worst case scenario." He sat back down beside her and took her hands. 

"We've never talked about separation or divorce, James, but I'm flattered that you'd be so upset about it," she said, crying a little. "But that's not even close to what I'm going to tell you."

"Alright," he told her, taking deep cleansing breathes, "what is it?"

This was it. She closed her eyes, took several deep breaths, and tried to prepare her mind for what she was going to say. "You're going to be a father."

Whatever kind of reaction she expected from him, she didn't get it, nor was it the way she had reacted.

James's eyes widened, his cheeks went pink, the corners of his mouth drew up into a grin, and Lily could feel the squeeze of his hands on hers.

"You're having a baby?" he whispered, his eyes bright.

"Uh huh," she whispered back, finding herself starting to smile about it for the first time.

"I'm going to be a dad?"

"Yeah you are. We're going to have a baby." 

When she said it like that, and when she saw his face, it was as if the light suddenly switched on in her head. This wasn't anything to be upset about, her conscience told her. You want to have a baby, sure you wanted it later on, but you can't always pick and choose the timing of life's little events. Go with it, Lily, see where it takes you. Jade is right; there's a reason for it, you just have to let it come through.

She tried not to think about how it would mess up her school schedule. Cross that bridge when you come to it, her brain whispered.

James seemed to know it was real, but at the same time he couldn't believe it. He couldn't stop smiling, nor stop saying over and over 'I'm going to be a father.'

"Do you want to know what it is?" Lily asked.

"You know?" he asked.

"Accidentally," she said. "I took the wrong test so I know the sex."

James thought for a moment. He would find out eventually, so why not right now? "Okay," he said, "tell me."

Lily took up the carnation, held it in front of him, and grinned. "They only turn two colors: pink and blue."

It took a while for James to react; he seemed to be trying to get the colors matched up with the right sex. But Lily knew when he had pieced it together, for he beamed with happiness, and then Lily thought she had seen something she'd never seen before.

A glistening glow glossed over James's blue eyes, which were crinkled in a smile. She could hear him take a small breath, almost a gasp. It didn't take long for a single drop to roll down his flushed cheek. In seconds, another one from his left eye trickled down. He was crying. Lily had never seen him cry, not in the eight years she had known him so well. He had cried because he had been laughing so hard, but everyone did that. This was different. 

Without saying a single word, his face now quite moist, he gently kissed his wife on the lips, a kiss so light and tender, she barely felt it. It was as if he thought she was made of glass, so precious and fragile. She could have sworn he whispered 'I love you,' when he touched her, but her ears did not hear it.

She leaned her forehead on his, framing his face with her small hands, which he covered with his own. It was one of those moments when words were simply unnecessary. Lily still had that strange feeling inside her, something she couldn't describe. But to her it felt as if maybe her baby was trying to reach for her heart, and tell her it would all be fine. As if he knew more about her emotions than she did. Being a medical student, she knew there was probably a scientific reason for the emotion, but logic didn't want to play today--maybe later.

Still weeping, James went to kiss her again, which she welcomed. It wasn't the sexual animal kind of kiss, the drunken happiness type of kiss, nor was it one you would see on the street or even in a wedding. This kiss was trying to send a message, not only to Lily, but also to his son growing inside her with each passing second. He wished he could speak to him, for nine months seemed so far away. He wanted his son to know that he loved him. I'll be good to you, he thought. I'll show you the world and I'll give you so much love. 

Lily cried as she kissed him. She never really knew that her husband could be like this. She had never imagined how wonderful a man, who had just been told he was going to be a father, could really be.

After scheduling an appointment with the Diagon Alley obstetrician, discussing the plans for the spare room to be turned into a nursery, and debating over "Julius" and "Merlin" and their meanings, James got ready to go to work for the day. He would tell Amin about the news and request a half day, so that he could take Lily to the doctor later that afternoon.

There was a part of him that still couldn't believe it. He assumed he would feel that way for a good nine months before the reality finally clicked. There was something peculiar about it all. Not peculiar in a bad way, just peculiar. 

He sensed that Lily felt the same way. She was more cautious about everything, and took better care of her person and her actions because she was no longer alone.

Last night, James could have sworn he saw his son, staring up at him through Lily's eyes. He didn't tell her about it, nor would he tell anyone. He supposed he was being silly and sentimental, but he didn't mind it.

One thing he wished, however, was to have his father around and ask him for advice. He knew parenthood was a huge responsibility, but just not how huge.

"Have a great day," Lily said as she walked him to the door. "Be safe out there."

"I will," he said softly, grinning. "I love you," he whispered, then gently kissed her.

"I love you back." She hugged him tightly, fighting the tears that were sieging her eyes.

"I'll see you this afternoon," he told her.

"Okay," she replied. Then James bent down and put his hand on her stomach.

"Goodbye, Merlin," he whispered. Lily rolled her eyes but smiled as she held his head. "I'm really happy that you're here."

"I was thinking that while you're gone, I'm going to go look at cribs. Just to look," she added, seeing the panic on his face, "not to buy. I won't buy anything without you."

"Good," he said. "I'm off for work." 

After Apparating into the IWBI, James started for his office, meeting people all along the way, congratulating him. Now he knew why.

When he entered the War Room, everyone cheered and applauded. James tossed his hands in the air as if he had been recently elected king of the world. "Thank you," he said to them all as he continued to his office. "The Potter name will go on!"

"Congratulations," Amin said. "I thought we'd open some wine and celebrate," he cheered. 

"It's nine in the morning," James said.

"In England maybe. So, you're going to have a son. How does it feel?" he asked, pouring the wine in paper cups.

"Surprisingly exhilarating" James said. "We're going to see the doctor this afternoon."

"Terrific. I don't have any children, but I admit I've been curious about them. Got any names planned out?"

James laughed. "Yeah, but we don't agree on any of them. She likes Julius, which I hate with every fiber of my being, and I'm kinda fond of Merlin."

Amin took a sip of wine then shook his head. "They're both terrible," he confessed. "Do you want the kid to think you hate him? Maybe you should try something more common to your country."

"You just said you didn't have kids, and now you're giving me advice?"

"On the name, yes. I think a good name--" but he didn't finish. A loud pulsating alarm sounded at that moment. James recognized it as an emergency rescue alarm, which he had heard only during his training. Both of them dropped everything and rushed into the War Room.

"Sir, we've got agents captured in Romania," a young man said to Amin. 

"Who's got them?" he asked urgently.

"Death Eaters, sir."

"Damn!" he said under his breath. "James, we need to assemble a rescue team and go in there. Get agents who are familiar with the forest landscape. Where are they holding them, junior?"

"We don't know. The beacon on agent seven went off, and that's all we know. We know it happened here," he said pointing to the map, "but as of yet we don't know where they are."

James turned on his heel and ran to the field agent safe house, which was next door to the Operations office.

"I need," he started, but the woman stopped him.

"We're on it," she said. "I've got you five so far, how many do you need?"

"The more the better," he said.

"I can get you seven, eight at the most."

"Send them over when you've got them, and hurry!" James said, running back over to his sector. "They're on their way. What's the game plan?"

Agents sprinted over to the Counterintelligence Operations sector, awaiting their orders.

"Here's the plan," Amin said, pulling up a map for all of them to see. "We Apparate here," he said pointing to a riverside. "We know that an anti-Apparation charm has been used on the forest, so we think that's where the five agents are. The Dark Lord loves this charm; it's damn impossible to break. Once we all meet up, we walk inside. I don't know whether or not we'll be able to use magic or not, so remember your training, and don't get killed. We separate into teams and form a perimeter. Death Eaters don't negotiate; remember that. To them this is a game. I don't know how our agents were caught, but I have a feeling someone uncovered this mission. So be safe.

"Are there any questions?" he asked.

No one said a word.

"Let's go," he said. All ten of them rushed out of the War Room to a concealed Apparation chamber embedded in the CI operation sector. 

Artemis flew across the room and landed on James's shoulder, which trembled with nervousness.

"Good luck," Amin said. In seconds all ten of them Disapparated.

Though it was mid-day, the forest of Romania was eerily dark and annoyingly silent. There wasn't much in they way of ground cover, only tall trees which formed a canopy.

The ten of them pulled their wands out and moved forward, following Amin's hand signals.

James had never been in the field before. He had always been away in a safe house, conducting the mission from afar. He wondered if he should stay behind...but what was there to do? It was a rescue. There were no cameras to watch, no agents to conduct with rationality, no real plans.

"What's that noise?" a female agent asked.

James heard it too. Screams.

They quickened their pace deeper into the forest. James instructed Artemis to fly into the area; she would keep a safe distance.

"Schrooder, Datson," Amin said, pointing to two agents, "go left. Erickson, Parker, you take the right. Go far out, and report by amulet on what you see. The rest of you stay with us. We'll set up here for now."

James waved his wand in a square pattern, forming a screen of what Artemis was seeing. So far, however, all he saw was forest.

"Give her time," Amin said.

"What are we supposed to do?" James asked. "We have no idea how many Death Eaters are in there, or if it's just them. What if Voldemort is in there with them? What if this is a trap?"

"I've already considered that. We'll have to hope for the best and try to get our people out of there."

"Someone finked on us."

"I know. That's why the counterintelligence sector exists."

James suddenly looked down at his observation screen. "We've got images," he said. Amin and the remaining agents gathered around.

On the screen were about thirty people: five of them were on their knees with cloaked and hooded wizards standing by them, wands pointed at the heads of the hostages. The twenty other wizards made a large circle around the five hostages with their five captors. One of the twenty, a tall thin man walked into the center. 

He too was hooded, but as soon as he entered his circle, he looked straight into the screen, as if he could see the eyes of the six IWBI wizards. He raised his index finger and shook it from side to side.

"Is there anyway we could get audio?" one of the agents asked.

"No," James said, but he couldn't tear his eyes from the image.

The same thin man who seemed to admonish them then made a second hand signal, this time to the Death Eaters. He brought his finger to his throat, then moved it quickly across it. What happened next was one of the worst things James saw in his life.

The five men with wands pointed at the captured agents, raised their wands, then thrust them back down. The scene lit with a blinding green light. James had to shut his eyes to keep from blacking out.

"My God," Amin whispered.

James opened his eyes and looked back into the screen. 

The five agents they came to rescue lay lifeless on the ground. James sat down before he fell down; he wasn't the only one.

"They knew we were coming," James said. "They knew we were coming for them."

But Amin was determined to make his mission a success on one level or another. "We're going to kill those sons of bitches," he said, his teeth gritted. He pulled his wrist up to his mouth and gave orders to his four agents around the perimeter. "We're going in. Use force. They've killed our team."

"We're going in?" James asked. 

"Yes. I'm calling for back-up."

"That's suicide. There are twenty five Death Eaters in there," James said, trying desperately to sound calm, but what he was saying didn't call for relaxation. "They know where we are, they probably know how many of us there are. It was a set up, and they got us. Ten against twenty-five Dark wizards who know this area better than we do are not good odds."

Amin stared at him but didn't answer. Instead he called the Bureau. "This is Amin Mohammed requesting back up. This is a code five."

"You're playing right into their hands," James told him. "They want you to do this, don't you see that?"

"What are you going to do, James? Sit around here and watch? Those agents died so that you could be safe. Are you going to let those monsters walk free with the blood of our men on their hands? That's probably how your father died. He died trying to save the rest of the world from people like them, the least you can do is take some of them out."

The others responded vehemently. 

"You want to stay here and watch, that's fine James. No one will think less of you. I know you're not a coward. But I'm going."

James stared into the fiery eyes of his superior, seeing the determination in his face, the same determination which plagued the others. It was true; Voldemort had killed his father. He had died trying to rid the world of that evil. Why join the IWBI if not to combat it?

"This isn't rational," James told him.

"Very few things are," Amin replied. "Ready?" he said to his other agents.

"Yes," they all responded.

"Kill as many as you can," he said. With one last glance to James, he moved forward, the remaining agents behind him.

James looked back at the screen. The twenty-five Death Eaters stood patiently, as if waiting for an ambush. James wanted to do something, but he didn't know what. He half felt like he should join in what would be a bloody battle, but his other half held him back. 

There was a delay in the time the agents left to the time the Death Eaters on the screen started to move. James had a sneaking suspicion that Voldemort was the tall, thin leader of them, but he didn't know for sure; the only people who had actually lived to tell of his appearance were his supporters.

Then there was a clash. Spells spewed out of wands from both sides, but James couldn't help but notice that the Death Eaters looked far more prepared, as they should be. Many of them took cover behind trees to fight the agents, but the tall one paced in the center of his circle while the others blocked the stray fire.

James could hear the battle faintly, as it was up ahead of him and down a hill. Every once in a while the ground shook beneath him. 

He hated this. Watching his fellow men fight a pointless battle was too much to bear.

"Zoom out," James said to his screen. Instantly, the view screen backed out so he had a broader view. There were already dead, but none were the enemy. He could see a few of them struggling to get away, injured. 

James ran toward the battle; he could watch it no longer. He hid behind trees as he approached the area. He made out some of the injured, cowering behind some kind of cover. James raced to them.

He had never seen a struggle like this one, or wounds such as these. Of the three who had crawled away, two were bleeding badly around the head. James wasn't sure that they were going to live much longer.

"Stay with me," he told them, ripping at his robes to wrap it around their heads.

All three of them were groaning; one was shaking violently. 

James did his best to stop the bleeding, but he feared his efforts were not good enough. "I'll be back for you two," he said to the others. He picked up one of them, the one who looked to be in critical condition, and ran to his previous location where he knew it was safe. It took much longer to get there, as his legs were aching with the extra weight. The man he carried was closing his eyes.

"Don't you dare die on me," he told him. Once James reached the base point, he propped the man up against a tree, then started back.

Upon his return to the sight, one of the men was dead, and the other was still shaking. James had to hit the deck to keep from being hit by stray spells, then he dragged the living agent to a safer location so James could pick him up.

"You're going to be okay," James told him as he ran back. "You're going to make it."

He lay him down next to the other agent, who was still alive, though only just. James activated his emergency communication amulet and beacon. "I need back up. We're in the Romanian forest, I have one I know to be dead, two others are seriously wounded, and the other six are unaccounted for. Send back up!" he yelled.

A scratchy response came back. "We can't do that. No one is able to Apparate to your location. We have charms experts trying to break-in, but they need another five minutes."

"In five minutes we'll all be dead!" James yelled. "Send people the traditional way!"

"We'll be there as soon as possible," the voice came back.

"Damn it!" James yelled. He looked down on his two agents whose conditions worsened each second. He gazed back at his screen and saw that most of the other agents were not moving. He commanded his screen to show friendly life signs: there was only one. Mohammed. James could see him on top of a hill, trying to kill the Death Eaters below, but he was badly wounded. 

James sprinted around the battle scene, and ran up the small hill where Amin lay.

"Come on," James said, trying to hoist him up. 

"No, just leave me," he said weakly.

"You don't mean that."

But he was very heavy. James turned him over so he lay on his back, then James saw his injuries. His robes were soaked in blood, in the area of the stomach. His injuries had to be massive.

"I can help you," James said, but before he could do anything, Amin threw his arm out and knocked James sideways. 

A Death Eater was standing behind them. James stood tall, and raised his wand to duel him.

"Potter," the Death Eater said. He was hooded so James couldn't see his face. "Drop your wand and come with me, or I'll kill the both of you."

James hesitated, then looked down at Amin, whose wand was grasped in his hand, but laying limply by his side. James looked into his face; Amin winked.

"Alright," James said calmly, "relax." He set his wand down on the ground and raised his hands.

"Avada Kedavra!" Amin yelled, hitting the Death Eater in the chest. In a flash of green light, he fell. 

James picked up his wand them went back to his mentor. "I should be able to fix this somewhat," James said.

"Don't," Amin said, pushing him away. "I can hear them coming closer," he said. James could hear them too. The battle was over, but a group was definitely walking towards them. "Go, James."

"No, I can take you with me," James said, slowly picking him up. But Amin wouldn't stand for it. 

"Damn your nobility," he whispered. "Just go. Tell my wife I love her," he said, his eyes sagging. "And spoil your boy whenever you can. Be a good father to him, James. Be good to him."

"Stop this," James said silently. "We can get out of here."

"You can." He spoke so softly that James could hardly hear him. "I'm ordering you to go."

"No," James said firmly. 

He went to pick him up, but just as he did, Amin let out his last breath.

"Over here!" a Death Eater yelled, coming up the hill. James couldn't see him yet, but he knew he and the other Death Eaters were close. Something told him to run. He got up, looked down on the body of his boss, then turned and ran. He was sure that as soon as they overcame that small hill, they would be able to see him. Figuring the forest was the perfect backdrop, James transformed.

Prongs skidded to a halt, made an about face, then walked to a patch of grass and bent his head. No less than ten Death Eaters came over the hill shouting "He went this way!" Prongs lifted his head and watched them, keeping very still.

The Death Eaters glanced at him, but quickly looked away. Prongs then galloped back to the temporary base. 

Miraculously, both of his agents were still alive.

He transformed back and briskly walked to them. "Can you stand?" he asked the one with the wounded head.

He nodded. James put the man's arm around his shoulder and the other man around his other shoulder. Both leaned on him, dragging their feet as they walked the other direction to get out of the forest.

* * * *

Lily walked down Diagon Alley, a slip of paper in her hand reading, "Tiny Tots." She had taken down the name when looking in the directory that morning. It was a bit windy and a little chilly, her breath froze in the air.

Tiny Tots was a cute little building at the end of a small cobbled street. The bell tinkled softly as she entered. There were two sides of the small store: one with products in pink, the other in blue. At the opposite end of the store were cribs, mobiles, changing stations, and other such items.

It was impossible for even the most bitter people to not smile when they looked around. Tiny shirts were hung with their tiny matching pants with patterns of soft sheep, sleeping lion cubs, and stars. Lily took a left for the boys section and started cooing when she picked up a very small pair of pajamas, a light pastel blue in color with a picture of a fluffy owl on the front; there was a place for the little feet.

"Is there something specific you're looking for?" the saleswoman asked.

"Oh," Lily said, hanging up the pajamas, "I was just looking."

"Is it for a friend?" she asked. 

"No. It's for me, well, not really me, but for him," she said, patting her stomach.

"Is he your first?" the lady asked.

"How old do I look?" Lily said with a smirk. The lady laughed then led her to the infant section of the store. Another woman was there. She had long, shiny black hair. "Jade?" Lily said quietly.

Jade turned around and hid something behind her back. "Lily? What are you doing here?" but before Lily could answer, Jade rolled her eyes. "Never mind, stupid question."

"What are you doing here, and what's behind your back?"

"Well, I was getting you this," she said, pulling an item from around her back.

"Oh how cute," Lily said. Jade was holding a very tiny hat with an embroidered sheep on the front. 

"And," Jade continued, pulling her other hand from behind her back, "baby socks!"

They both dissolved into coos. "They're so little," Lily said in baby talk.

"For the wittle feeties," Jade said back. "You have to see the things they have in here. My mother said that you could never have enough blankets or socks."

"Jade," Lily said, "I'm not allowed to buy anything without James."

"Okay. So I'll buy some stuff. I don't mind," Jade said, seeing the expression on Lily's face, "because babies grow out of this stuff and then you can give it back to me when I have my baby. Deal?"

"Deal," Lily said smiling at her. They started moving to the back of the store to look at more truly adorable baby clothes, when startled voices reached their ears.

"What's going on?" Jade said, looking to the front. She saw that the Daily Prophet had put out an extra, something they rarely did, and it was being passed around and read by everyone out in the street.

The woman who owned the store was also reading one. Her face went from wonder to shock in seconds. Lily walked forward, Jade right behind her, to the sales counter.

"What is it, what's happening?" she asked.

"An attack, in Romania. Twelve secret agents are dead, including some of the superiors, according to this."

Lily felt her knees go very weak. Her head felt like it was going to float off, it was so light and dizzy. "Can I see that?" she asked in a soft whisper.

"Sure," the lady said, handing it to Lily.

Lily took the paper and backed into a chair before she collapsed. Jade sat beside her and read along.

YOU KNOW WHO STRIKES AGAIN

In an attempt to rescue uncovered spies, seven secret agents from the covert agency of the International Wizard Bureau of Investigation were killed. An anonymous source tells the prophet that a group of ten Operations wizards, including directors, went in search of five uncovered spies in You-know-who's supporters. The location of this attack is thought to be in some part of Romania, but the source wouldn't confirm. The rescue attempt, however, proved in vain as the five uncovered agents were executed, and six agents from the rescue squad, including one director, were killed in action. Names have yet to be released as the IWBI wishes to inform the victims' families first. As more information comes in, the Prophet will report. Our deepest sympathies to the victims' families. 

Lily didn't even sense the tears coming, she was only aware of them when she felt them trickle down her cheeks, cold as ice. The paper fell out of her hand, and she didn't try to catch it. All at once she felt her heart beat out of control, yet all color vanished from her body.

"Lily," Jade said. That was all she said.

"That's," Lily said quietly, trying to process the thoughts in her head. "He works there," she finished.

"James is fine," Jade said, though she didn't know that she believed it herself. "I'm sure that wasn't him they were talking about. Come on," she whispered, taking Lily by the arms, "let's get you out of here."

Lily couldn't resist her even if she wanted to. She was blinded by tears of trepidation and could hardly see anything around her. Everyone in the street was talking about how severe this was, though hardly any of them had heard of the Bureau.

"He's getting smarter," an old wizard said of the Dark Lord, as Lily and Jade passed him.

"James is fine," Jade reassured. "I know he is."

Lily couldn't say anything; but she hoped it was true, yet there was a nagging in the back of her head that couldn't stop thinking of the worst.

"I can't breathe," Lily said, clutching her chest, starting to hyperventilate.

"Relax," Jade told her, but it sounded very distant. Lily's eyes rolled into the back of her head, her breathing becoming faster, all at once she felt herself slipping out of consciousness.

"Stay with me Lily," she heard Jade say faintly, but she couldn't hold on.

"She just fainted in the street?" the voice of a familiar man asked. 

There was a scraping noise.

"Yes. I'm so glad Remus came along to get her to the doctor's office."

A door opened. It sounded as if someone sat in a stool with wheels then rolled closer.

"Still not awake?" a new voice said. "She should come around very soon."

"Can't you give her something to help her wake up?" the man's voice asked.

"No," Jade said urgently. "Lily's pregnant."

"What!" the man yelled.

Lily opened her eyes. Jade and Sirius sat at her right side, and a doctor was hovering over her left side. Lily tried to sit up but the doctor pushed her back down.

"It's alright, miss," he said to her. "You'll be fine, but I need you to lay down."

Lily did so, but looked to Sirius and started bombarding him with questions. "Sirius, was it James?"

"James was there, but he's fine, Lily. He's one of the three who made it out. As soon as the doctor says you're okay to leave, I've got permission to take you to see him. He's fine, Lily, he's not even injured."

"Are you sure? Have you seen him?"

"Yes I'm sure, but they won't let me see him yet. When can I take her?" he asked the doctor.

"In a few more minutes," he told Sirius. "Relax, dear," he said to Lily. "I need you to take some deep breaths, alright? You need to breath regularly, and don't hyperventilate, it's bad for your baby."

"It's not like she chose to do that," Jade said, a little more loudly than she would have liked. The doctor gave her a face. "Well it's true," Jade said. 

The doctor left the room so that Lily was alone with her two friends. She sat up quickly, kicked the sheets off of her, and got out of bed so quickly the other two couldn't stop her.

"I want to see him," she told Sirius, unable to hold back her tears.

"Okay," he said. His eyes were very understanding. "Jade, could you go out there and charm the doctor you like so much, with your wits?"

"I'm the distraction?" she asked.

"Right," he told her.

"No problem," she said, then left.

Sirius turned to face Lily again, who looked terribly worried. "You have to hold my hand, and then we'll Apparate there. I'll take you to the safety house, and you can see him. Is that good?" he asked, smiling at her.

"Thank you," she managed to say.

Sirius cupped her cheeks with his hands and wiped her tears with his thumbs. Lily walked to him and hugged him tightly, burying her head in between his neck and shoulders. Sirius encircled her with his arms, and kissed her temple. "Everything's going to be fine," he whispered to her. "I'll try not be insulted that neither one of you told me about the baby," he added.

Lily let out a small giggle and drew back. "Let's go," she said.

Sirius nodded, took her by the hand, and they Disapparated. Lily, who had been to the Bureau before, had never seen the rest of the place, just the one conference room. She, like Sirius and James, was taken aback by its magnificence and how it was much different than how she pictured it.

Sirius led her down the hallways, wizards from all over the world passing them, to the "Field Agent Safe House." There wasn't a door but a portal, as she had seen before. Taking her by the hand once more, Sirius led her inside.

Inside was a small rectangular room, which was a bit dismal. A number of portals led off to different places, Lily assumed. Ashika Narayan, whom Lily hadn't noticed at first, was pacing the room. She looked up when Lily and Sirius entered. 

"Mrs. Potter," she said. "How nice to meet you." She put out her hand, which Lily took, though it was quite strange to meet someone she'd already met. "James is being questioned right now, but he'll be done in a few minutes. You can sit down if you'd like," she said, motioning to a chair.

Lily had seen Ashika a few times before now, and each time Ashika had always maintained a sense of composure, even during a crisis. But right now she was losing some of her cool. 

She pulled a cigarette out of her robe pocket, but Lily prevented her from smoking it.

"Why?" she said, putting it in her mouth.

"I don't need you're fumes infiltrating my body and harming my son," Lily said.

Ashika didn't look surprised to hear the news, but she did put away her lighter and cigarette. "He rescued two others," she said to Lily. "Your husband went in and carried two men out of the battle and saved their lives. You should be very proud of him."

Lily looked at Sirius to see his expression, but it remained calm. "I knew that," he told her. "It's not such a surprise, is it?"

"I guess not."

Moments later, the center portal opened. Two strangers walked out, then came James looking shaken. Lily leapt out of her chair and ran to him. He scooped her up and held her very close. She, of course, started crying again and mumbled incoherently into his ear.

Sirius saw James look at him from over Lily's shoulders, but he quickly looked away and started talking to her. "All I could think of was you and him," he said in her ear, barely audible to the rest of the people in the room. "I was so scared," he whispered to her.

Lily pulled back and started to kiss his face, not caring that others were watching. "Don't you ever leave me," she said. "Ever."

"I won't," he told her, looking into her eyes. 

"James," Ashika said from the corner, looking at the transcript of his report, "you can go home. Come back in five days. Amin's funeral date will be sent to you by falcon, as well as the location."

"He's...?" Lily said, looking back to James.

He nodded. "Let's go," he mumbled, taking her by the hand and walking out of the room.

James sat down on the sofa, a pad of parchment on his lap, a quill in his hand. So far the only thing he had was "Dear Prethna." He didn't know what to tell Mrs. Mohammed, other than he'd seen her husband die. He had never really spoken to her, didn't know her well, and Amin rarely discussed her.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked, setting laundry down on the coffee table.

"Trying to write a letter. I'm afraid I'm not much when it comes to the written word."

"A letter to his wife?" Lily asked, tapping her wand on the towels so they folded themselves.

"He told me to tell her that he loved her. I don't know where he lives, but even if I did, I don't know that I could say it to her."

Lily smiled. "Yeah you could." She stared at him for a long while, and he stared back. "It's terrible," she started, "it's really quite horrible to think what I thought today."

James set his pad and quill on the table. "What's that?" he asked.

"The Prophet reported what happened, claiming that one of the directors was dead. I hoped that entire time it was Mohammed, as if he didn't have family, or friends. I almost didn't care that twelve people had died, just that you lived. I just didn't care. All I could think about was getting you back. Only now can I rationalize that those other twelve agents were sons and daughters, husbands and wives..."

"Mother and fathers," James finished after her long pause.

She nodded. "I never knew that your job could be this dangerous. You never tell me what goes on when you leave this apartment. But today I realized that you're out there fighting evil, for real. Out there in the field, and while you may be at some safe house directing the others, you're still there."

"I know…Most of the time," he began, "I am far away from it. Today was very different because everyone got hyped up, ready to go in there and save our guys. The only reason I didn't go with the rest of them was because I knew I wasn't...alone. I'm not some single guy anymore. That's why I didn't go in. I felt like a coward not going with them. I sat and watched them go into that battle, feeling the entire time like I should have been with them."

"But you saved two of them, James. If you had gone in there, it would be fifteen casualties."

James pondered for a short while. "He saved me."

"Mohammed?" she asked.

"He stopped someone from..." he suddenly stopped, realizing that he was not only breaking the confidentiality of the mission, but also making her go into a worried state. "Well, he really pulled me out of a jam," he said, but he knew she didn't buy.

But Lily didn't want to think about it. "I'm glad you're back, and I'm glad you're safe," she said, picking up the now folded towels and taking them to the linen closet.

James took deep breaths, preparing what he was going to say next. Lily came back into the room and sat next to him. He leaned back into the sofa, Lily rested her head on his chest and sighed. 

"It got me thinking," James said, in a tone she hadn't heard before. "About us."

Lily propped herself up and looked at him. "What about us?" she asked.

"Well," he began, "we never really talked about it, we sort of avoided it, I think, or at least I did. It's that chat we all have to have, as married people. You know that one about...well if something were to happen--"

"Nothing's going to happen," Lily interrupted.

"But if something did, Lily, if I die I want you to go on."

"Can we not talk about this right now," Lily said, sitting up. 

"No we have to talk about now. Lily, if something happens to me, I want you to move on. Date other people because I don't want you to be alone."

Lily got up and went into the kitchen. James followed. "Lily," he said, "it's important that you agree to this. If there's an accident or something I need to know that you'll be taken care of."

Lily whipped around. "I don't have the hormones to be doing this right now," she said, her voice shaking. "Don't you dare start talking about dying when I'm three weeks pregnant! It's one thing to start talking about my husband dying, but another when we're discussing the father of my baby."

James held up his hands to stop her from continuing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he sobered. "I just want you to be okay."

"I appreciate that. Just not today, all right? Maybe later on in the week, or...well."

"We've already discussed half of it."

"So what do you want me to say? That if something happens to me, you should see other people? Is that what you want me to say?"

James stared at her, leaning on the counter. "Is that how you feel?" he asked.

"I don't know. It's hard to think about that right now. The line is 'till death do you part,' so I guess that sums it up, right?"

James made his lips go thin. "Yeah it does."

"So then it's settled, isn't it?" she said, but it wasn't a question. "What happens if something..."

"Well I've been thinking about that, too," James said before she could finish. "It's not very likely, but all the same, we should start looking into that kind of thing."

"I was thinking that Sirius--"

"Me too."

* * * * *

Ashika paced around the conference room, looking calm as she normally did. Her thick, shiny black hair was up in a bun at the back of her head. Her thin face showed her pulsating vein in her temple.

"Someone," she said in a spooky voice, "is telling names, and squealing to the press. Someone told Voldemort who our spies were. Someone told Voldemort we were coming to rescue them. Someone leaked to the press that we had twelve dead agents, including secret spies. I want to know who is hiding. The Counterintelligence sector exists solely to find moles in this Bureau, and others in other departments around the world." She kept pacing, remaining eerily calm. "And so far we have yet to find any of them. What does that mean? What does that mean?"

James kept watching her, as did the others in the room. For such a tiny woman, she knew how to hold attention and give an impression of danger.

"New management, I think," she said. "Potter, you're taking over Mohammed's position. You were the one that had brains last week."

James didn't say anything; instead he looked around the table at the others seated there.

"Black, I want you up a position in Analysis. Both of you get pay increases. And if someone has a lead on who these people are, you will get rewarded. Because right now I have nothing. I have no eyes inside! No eyes! Voldemort has people in here and we have no one in there! No one! No one!" she yelled.

Sirius looked across the table at James, feeling very uncomfortable. 

"I don't remember being this desperate before in my life," Ashika continued. "Do any of you have a clue as to how long it will take to get another agent in there? Do you?"

No one answered, and no one was meant to. James shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"I want results. I want this stopped. I don't want to lose any more spies, any more directors. I want to lose moles. I want to lose them now." Ashika looked into each of their faces, then left the conference room. Everyone sighed and relaxed, but tensed at the same time.

"She was ticked," Sirius said.

"Can you blame her? The entire department has lost everything. We're going to find that mole," James said. He stood up and started to leave, as others at the table did the same.

"They're covering their tracks real well," Sirius said, leaving with James. "We've got absolutely nothing in the way of evidence, no hints about anything."

The two of them started to walk down to their sectors. "Can I tell you something?" James said.

"That would be nice...for a change."

"Do you think this is wise? For me. Do you think that maybe, at this point in my life, this job isn't right?"

Sirius stopped him in the middle of the hall.

"You're thinking about quitting?"

"Maybe not quitting, but turning down this position. I can't help but thinking something might happen. What if I don't get to see my son being born?"

"You will. Nothing's going to happen. You heard what she said in there. You've got brains. I've looked at that film you took, James. The others completely forgot their training and let their emotions get the better of them. I don't know if I could have done what you did. You stayed rational out there while the others went to fight."

"I probably would have if it was you he killed. They executed them."

"I know. But I still think you're right for this job. Not to get all mushy, but you're the bravest person I know and no one could do this job as well as you. You can't let Voldemort terrorize you like he is with everyone else. You have to go on with life. Someone has to stop that bastard."

"Yeah, I know. You're probably right," James said.

"Damn straight I'm right. I'm always right."

James chuckled softly as he started back for his office.

"So, I was thinking," Sirius said, clearly changing the subject.

"Not again," James said.

"I know. Dangerous things work in this brain," he said, tapping his temple. "Anyways, I was thinking that a really good name would be Sirius. It just sounds good."

James rolled his eyes. "You want my son to be called Sirius Potter?"

"Hey you can't deny good taste in names," Sirius said.

"How did you find out about the new addition?"

"Not from you," Sirius said, socking James in the shoulder, "that's for sure. Thanks for the owl, by the way. You know, that note you didn't send me saying 'Hey Sirius, Lily's pregnant. Have a great day!' Nice. My best friend of nineteen years can't tell me he's fertilized an egg."

James laughed again. "Well that's a nice way to word it. I'm perplexed with how women are so attracted to you when you talk like that."

"I don't talk that way with women," he sniggered. "And it helps to have good hair, a nice smile, two eyes instead of four."

This time James hit Sirius. "I never did get that insult. I'm going to laugh if you get into a freak accident and lose that face."

"Yeah, this fatherhood thing is changing you. You're worrying too much," Sirius said, shaking his head. "So I found out from Jade who told the doctor that Lily was pregnant. Jade knew about this before me! I'm noticing a trend here. It would have been nice if you could have told me."

"This conversation is making a circle," James said.

"I was thinking Sirius as the name," Sirius said in response. James laughed.

Jade visited Lily late that afternoon, bringing with her various baby materials, all of which deserved cooing and fawning over. She had purchased them herself but told Lily, when she complained about the expense, that they were merely on loan.

"Remember, I'm living vicariously through you until I have my own baby," Jade would tell her.

"Thanks," Lily said, smiling at her. "You're really great about this."

"Well, I'm baby crazy, what can I tell you?" 

"There's nothing wrong with that," Lily told her. 

Jade picked up a pair of infant socks and fiddled with them in her hands. She took several deep breaths and started walking around the room. "I wish," she began, "I could have what you have," she said, not looking at Lily. "You really don't know how lucky you are."

Lily cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean by that?"

"You've got everything," Jade said, turning around to face her. "Everything you want. You always have, Lily. It sounds petty for me to be saying this, when I have nothing but time on my hands to fall in love and get married, but I really envy you. You have the perfect life."

"No I don't. If it was perfect then James wouldn't work in such dangerous conditions and have me worried sick like last week."

"Maybe," she responded. "He's perfect, you know. You've got the perfect man. I'm not saying what you think I'm saying," she explained as she watched Lily's face, "because he's yours and always will be. He may not be the most physically perfect, or have the best hair, but I wish there were more of him out there. I bet his eyes went all misty when you told him about your baby, didn't they?"

Lily smiled and nodded. She watched Jade curiously, never remembering a time when she had been like this.

"He comes home right after work, doesn't go to the bar with the boys like so many other men. He treats you like a queen, always says he loves you," she whispered, looking again at the socks in her hands. "You'll never have to be alone because he won't allow it."

"Jade," Lily said, "what's this about?"

Jade shrugged her shoulders. "I get like this about once a month, all teary eyed and thinking that I'll die an old maid."

"You're not going to die and old maid," Lily chuckled. "Why are you even saying all of this? You'll find someone, and you'll have beautiful babies. Our kids can go to school together!"

"Yeah," Jade said, clutching the socks, "they can. Granted they won't be friends because how many underclassmen were we friends with, but together certainly."

"Right. Don't get all down in the dumps over this because it's a little silly. We need to hook you up with someone."

"Okay," Jade said feebly.

"Now give me those socks before you touch them so much they're not soft anymore."

Jade handed them over then started to examine the pool table. "Rumor has it that you're parting with this," she said, running a finger along the edge. "Why would you do such a horrible thing?"

"I'm afraid that there might be a freak accident, and I'll impale myself with a cue-stick."

Jade gave her a quizzical look. "Alright. I can see how that might happen, if you jousted with the cue-sticks."

"We'll just give it to Sirius or Remus and play it at their place if we want."

"Or it could stay with, gosh I don't know,' she said, tapping her fingers on it, "me?"

"It's yours," Lily said.

The door opened a few moments later, while Jade was taking measurements of the table. James came in with bags of food and a specialty bag from "Tiny Tots." He went over to Lily and kissed her, then bent down to kiss her stomach.

"Hello Maximus," he whispered.

"Oh so it's Maximus now?" Lily asked, looking into the bags.

"Well you don't like Merlin so I picked a new name. Hey Jade," he said. "Oh, so you're taking Tabitha home with you?"

"You've named the pool table?" Jade asked them.

"No," Lily said, "James did. He's been naming everything recently. It's really quite annoying."

"I love you too, Lily. Oh, you have to see this," he said, pulling something out of the Tiny Tots bag. "Can you believe they make these for babies?" He had very small robes in his hands, scarlet in color, with a gold lion on the front. The inside lining of the robes were pale yellow, and on the back it read "Quidditch Trainee."

"That is so adorable!" Jade said, rushing over to touch it.

"We said we wouldn't buy anything without each other!" Lily told him.

"Yeah, that's what we said. I just saw this in the window and I had to get it. Besides, where did you get those?" he asked, pointing to the socks and baby blankets.

"Jade got them for me," Lily replied.

"Why?"

"Because I'm pathetic," Jade answered.

"Well whatever, you aren't getting me to take it back. Oh, and I also got a mobile," he said with a giddy tone. The mobile, as it turned out, had a small red ball, two black ones, and several golden ones with wings, which looked life size to their real counterparts. The objects were all plush.

"I'm noticing a trend," Lily said with a smile as she spun the mobile around. "Why are there more gold ones?"

"It's a Seeker mobile," he told her, as if it was completely obvious. "He needs to get used to seeing the snitch, so he'll be better when he plays Seeker."

"Seeker?" Lily asked.

"Yes."

"Seeker?" she asked again.

"Right."

"Seeker?!" she said for the third time.

"Is there a point to this?"

"They get clobbered! I saw how many times those players got knocked out and sent to the hospital wing! I am not giving up caffeine, alcohol, and my pool table to make our baby perfect so that he can get knocked around in twelve years or so. No. I won't have it."

James stared at her with thin lips. "He's playing Quidditch."

"Not Seeker," she said, her eyes popping.

"What then? They all get hurt."

"The Keepers don't. He can be Keeper."

James rolled his eyes and his head. "Lily, we are having a Potter boy, not some pansy kid who's afraid of getting hurt all the time. He's going to be Seeker, and there's not a whole lot you can do about it."

"You're going to make his obsessed with this game, aren't you?" she asked, tapping her foot and crossing her arms.

"That's impossible," James said.

"No it isn't. We broke up because of that stupid game. I don't want him getting hurt or you pressuring him to reach impossible standards. That will ruin him."

James didn't see much point in arguing with her. She looked angry, very angry, and it was frankly a very stupid thing to be angry about, in his mind. 

James reached into a different bag and removed delicious looking brownies, which he offered to her. "I picked these up for you. Do you want one?" he asked.

Lily's eyes started to water, and very soon she was crying. "Thank you so much," she said, putting her hand to her heart.

Jade gave James a grin. "So Lily," she said, "how are those mood swings going?"

"I actually haven't noticed any," she said, taking a large bite out of a brownie.

Remus and Sonja came by later on, bringing they're contribution to the dinner. Sonja embraced Lily as if they'd been friends for many years and said "how's my pregnant friend?" as a greeting. Somehow it made Lily laugh. Sonja also offered to give a fortune telling, but Lily declined saying she didn't want to peek into the future; she didn't actually believe in that sort of magic.

"You will not believe what I have just done," Sirius said as he made a dramatic entrance into the apartment. He was wearing his bomber jacket, light blue jeans, and his sunglasses, as well as his handsome smile showing his shiny white teeth.

"You stuck your head in a volcano," James suggested, noticing Sirius's red face.

"No, even better," he said, closing the door behind him and walking into the kitchen to get a drink.

"You tried a sunless tan?" Remus suggested. "It didn't work."

"No, but I did spend some time in the sun."

"But it's cloudy outside," Sonja said.

"An astute observation," Sirius hinted.

"Sirius," Jade said, "just tell us."

"I, Sirius Black, master of all that I command, creator of...well nothing yet. But, ladies and gentlemen, I have boldly gone where no one has gone before. Today, my friends, I have entered a new realm of adventure."

"You're very poetic," Jade said, "please tell us what you did!"

"I'm getting to that," Sirius said, holding his finger to her. "So I was looking through a spell book today and I found something very interesting. I took down this spell and I performed it on a certain item I hold in my possession."

"Sirius," James said, his hand on his forehead, "could you just tell us so we can get on with the evening."

"I flew my motorcycle. I got her to about one-fifty, and I hit my aviation booster. That's right," he said, looking at their impressed faces, "I went above the clouds. It was the best feeling ever, I'm telling you."

"Isn't that illegal?" Lily asked.

"See, Lily, you have to stop thinking about legality all the time. It's not illegal if you don't use it for dark magic or drug trafficking. Besides, no one else is going to know about it because none of you are going to squeal on me."

"Sirius, that's the cleverest thing you've ever done," James said. "I've gotta see this."

"It's incredible. I've got it downstairs, you want to go now?"

"Sure," James said.

"You notice how I told about this. You notice that you didn't hear it from somebody else?" Sirius said, taking off his sunglasses, leaving him with a racoon-like face.

"Sirius," James started, but Sonja cut him off.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Oh, well James and I have been best friends since before time, and for some reason he didn't inform me of kissing his long time obsession."

"Sirius," James interjected.

"Then, he doesn't tell me that he's going to propose marriage in the middle of a train station. Didn't even mention it to me, or ask me about it. And last week I find out from my ex-girlfriend that he's going to be a father. Didn't even let me know."

James smiled placidly, Lily stood by his side, smiling in the same way, but turned to whisper something in her husband's ear, to which he nodded.

"Sirius," Lily said, "James and I have been talking about stuff and--"

"What now?" he asked. "Is there more to this?"

"Yes. Sirius, James and I want you to be his godfather," she said, holding James's hand. "That is if you are willing."

Sirius's mouth opened slightly and his shoulders sagged. "Me?" he said in a weak voice, pointing to himself as if to narrow it down.

James and Lily nodded. Everyone else in the room remained unusually silent.

"Godfather?"

James chuckled. "Yeah. If something were to happen, then you would be..."

"I know what it is, but...wow," he said, smiling. "Me, really?" he asked, his face lit with happiness.

"Of course you. Sirius I may not tell you everything, though you only brought up three things," James started.

"Three big things, James," Sirius pointed out.

"Three big things, yes, but you're my best friend, since forever. It would mean so much to me and so much to us, the three of us, if you would do this. You're part of our family, you've always been a part of mine at least. That will never change. So what do you say?"

Sirius couldn't stop grinning. "What do you think I'll say, of course I'll do it. I'd be an idiot to pass this up. I'm so honored," he said, touching his chest. As his eyes started to redden, he went to the both of them and hugged them. "I love you guys," he said.

"Awwww," Jade said.

"We love you too," Lily said, kissing his cheek.

"So that hostility you had against me for a while was...?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, yeah well it's a new psychological thing. I guess I felt threatened that you would take James away, and other such silly nonsense. Nothing personal."

"Got it," Sirius said, still grinning like a fool. "So, I'm like a second father, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm always going to be the first so don't get any ideas," James said, pointing a finger at him. Sirius laughed and pulled him in for another hug.

"Congratulations," Sirius said to him. "I'm so happy for the both of you, and for myself now. I feel so involved already. Thank you so much."

"I expect some reciprocity," James said, grasping Sirius by the shoulders.

"Absolutely," Sirius said.

After much more hugging from everyone, in what turned out to be a very sappy kind of scene that is rarely seen among adults, the next process of the new Potter's initiation was discussed: names. It wasn't the most civil of ceremonies, especially if you consider the hacking cough interjected occasionally from Sirius's direction which sounded less like a cough and more like a muffled "Sirius!"

Sonja was happy to suggest foreign names for the child, many of which had powerful meanings of strength, but Lily wasn't much interested, though James was fascinated.

Lily thought something more common might be a better way to go. She suggested Alexander, Brandon, Justin, and Michael. James flinched at each one of them complaining that they reminded him of people who studied far too much and would therefore be likely to be "pansies." Lily didn't bring up the fact that James graduated at the top of his class.

James, however, seemed to favor names that suggested great power. He was quite fond of Maximus, Brutus, and Kilroy. Lily wrinkled her nose in protest. She voiced her opinion that with a name like that, the child would be asking for ridicule. James did not agree, saying that if their son had such a name and the power that came with it, the other children would be foolish in mocking him. Besides, James would say, I'll pound the idiot that mocks Maximus.

When going to the peanut gallery with these names, all were turned down. Jade suggested they might want to go for something a little more mainstream with a powerful meaning. She added that such a task would require some research.

Remus seconded the motion. "He won't need a great name to stand out; he'll be great with whatever name you give him." This made Lily go emotional again. She had to blow her nose several times and get a new box for her eyes.

Still, the coughing from the newly appointed godfather continued to interrupt the proceeding. It somehow came to a halt when the father told him to discontinue in this behavior, though those were not the exact words.

James and Lily came to an agreement that names ending in "us" would not be used simply because they sounded too Roman. It also put an immediate stop to the coughing, which was replaced by a sultry behavior which turned out to be more comical than it was sullen.

Lily asked Jade for some suggestions, but she didn't want to share. Lily berated her for she knew she had names already planned out for her children. "I'm having one before you are," Lily would say, "please, just one name." 

Jade finally caved in, for the new godfather started to sing (off key) into her ear and threatened to go over to her small apartment and serenade her in the middle of the night.

"My favorite boys name," she said, pushing Sirius a little more roughly than he would have liked, "is Clayton."

Both Lily and James perked up to this, then James shook his head.

"What's wrong with that?" Lily asked. "It's perfect!"

"Nope," James said. "Don't you see a problem with Clay Potter?"

"Oh," Lily said, slouching back down into the sofa. She went on to complain about the last name, which didn't go unchallenged.

Sirius added, at long last, a realistic suggestion of naming the child after kin. However, neither of them could agree on which family member or whose family. James pointed out that Lily had no brothers and had never met one of her grandfathers so this left her with only two names. James hated both.

Lily didn't hesitate to tell James that he too had no brothers, though Sirius started coughing again, and didn't know his grandfathers very well before they died. They decided that they wouldn't go with family.

After coming do a decision about the middle name, "James," the group discussion concluded with frustration and anxiety. Instead they turned to a more social chatter about their absent friends. Jade said that Liz was on a business trip, but when Remus pressured her, Jade admitted that Liz had a new boyfriend and was out on vacation with him. 

Sirius voiced some concern about Peter, complaining that he hardly heard from him and wondered if he'd done something to upset him. Remus added to this also noting that Peter had been in and out of contact. They determined that this might be because he was looking for a new place of residence and his overbearing mother certainly wasn't happy with that. Sonja was curious about Peter and asked to hear about him. This led to stories about their years at Hogwarts, most of them which brought tears of laughter. Sonja especially enjoyed "Operation Slytherin Destruction" which was implemented in year three. James, Sirius, and Remus were careful to avoid the suggestion of any magical material being used in this operation.

Then there was much talk about relationships. Everyone had something to say about the incredibly annoying behavior coming from both Lily and James in the five years before their eventual hook up. Sirius insisted that the annoyance of their disgusting display of emotions never stopped, which brought laughter. And since Jade and Sirius were on friendly terms, for their separation had been months ago, they didn't mind in sharing some of their stories. But both seemed a little saddened when they reached the end.

When the clock told them it was late, everyone packed up and went home, thanking Lily and James for a good time.

But they didn't go to sleep. Though both were in bed, under the warm covers, they couldn't keep from talking. They sounded very juvenile, and looked like it, chatting with the covers pulled over their heads. 

"I wonder what he'll be like," Lily said. 

'He'll be smart," James replied. 

"Well he'll have to be," Lily said with a smile.

"Do you think we're ready for this?" James asked. 

Lily shrugged. "No," she whispered. "Do you want the truth?"

James squinted at her. "Yeah."

"When I first found out about this, I cried my eyes out. I've never been so scared before, and I've been scared real good. My mother would always say that 'having a baby sends you down a road of change, and you never know which way the wind will blow.' I want this baby, I wanted him when I found out, but at the same time I worry that I won't be able to continue with my own plans."

"I think that might be normal," he told her, remaining much more calm than she expected. "We decided we would do this in a few years, but since you and I are so good together," he said with a devilish grin, "we found ourselves on that road. Sure, it's a bit inconvenient for us, but as my father used to say, since we're talking old phrases, 'Life doesn't always go the way you plan it. Life's not meant to be planned out. You can't control what it does for you, you can only take what she gives you and prepare for it.' I don't know that I've said it, but I'm so happy about this. Look at what we've done, Lily. We created life because of our love. That's so special, who cares if the timing is off a bit. We'll manage it just fine. Money won't be a problem, we have a great, loving relationship with each other, and we're both good people."

Lily snuggled close to him. "I hope he's like you," she whispered.

"You're just saying that because I'm dashingly handsome and incredibly suave," he mused.

Lily snorted with laughter and kissed him. "Not exactly, sweetheart."

"Is it because I'm naturally brainy and very witty?"

"Not quite but I do believe you're getting warmer."

He made a mumbling sound then grinned, but he didn't talk anymore. He wrapped his arms around her and sighed, feeling comfortable with the touch of her hand on his face. He gently kissed her neck and jaw, but didn't go any further.

"I love you," she whispered, running one hand through his hair, the other wrapped around his neck. He put his right hand on her stomach, and she could feel him smiling. "I love you back," he mumbled.

* * * * *

Mr. Evans surveyed his daughter with a proud smile, which she returned. He couldn't stop patting her hand and occasionally saying, "I'm so proud of you," then kissing her cheek. "My little doctor."

"Not for a while," Lily said, but that didn't seem to make much of a dent.

"And a grandson," Mrs. Evans saying, her face bright.

"How many more months do you have left?" Mr. Evans asked.

"Well, six. Our doctor says he's due around the twenty-third of July, give or take a few days. But it's about six months left."

"So James," Mr. Evans said, looking down the table at his son-in-law, "has she been real moody? You can be honest. Amanda was so blasted emotional during both pregnancies."

James cleared his throat. "She's been great," he lied. "Every once in a while she'll get a little moody, but for the most part she's her radiant self."

"Well," Mr. Evans said with another pat on Lily's hand, "that's my little princess, always radiant."

"Have you decided on a name yet?" Mrs. Evans asked. 

James and Lily both shook their heads. "No," Lily said. "We sort of gave up on that for a while."

"Lily shouts out a name when she comes across one she likes, but I say no," James said.

"He needs something powerful," Mr. Evans stated. 

"That's exactly how I feel," James said, leaning across the table.

Lily rolled her eyes to her mother, who sniggered. "Your sister isn't having this problem," she said to her. "They don't know what theirs is so they haven't even started thinking of names."

"She's over four month's done, right?" Lily asked.

"Yes. She's starting to show a little bit, and you will too very soon. You're both so thin so you'll show before many other women do."

"I'm just glad morning sickness is over," Lily said, taking a sip of her water. "Every single day I was puking my brains out. And the doctor said some women don't get it bad and I hoped that would be me, but it wasn't."

"I want to see you're nursery," Mrs. Evans said. 

"We just finished it, actually. But as I think about it, I don't want to raise him in an apartment. We've talked about moving, but not right now. School is really demanding and James's job is kinda hectic for the time being."

"My father's name was Maximilian," Mr. Evans told James, "but I'm not to fond of that name. And I wouldn't recommend Amanda's father."

"What a pig," Mrs. Evans said suddenly, rejoining the conversation. "Whatever you do, don't name your son Thomas."

"We won't," Lily said quickly. "I like Cory," she said.

"Why not?" James asked Mrs. Evans.

"He left my mother. You see, I was born out of wedlock. My father was married to another woman when I was born, nice guy, huh?" she said, taking a long drink of wine.

"I never knew that," James said. "So you never knew him?"

"Nope. Mum never really liked talking about him. I can't say I blame her."

James looked over to Lily to tell her something, but he couldn't remember what he was going to say when he saw her expression. Her face had gone almost rigid into a fixed and indescribable position. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

She nodded then immediately jumped into her curriculum at school, which changed the subject. Curious, James started to ask Mrs. Evans about her father, but he was cut off by Lily, who stood up abruptly to take her plate into the kitchen.

"Would you like to help me, James?" she asked, her eyes bugging out.

"Alright," he said. He grabbed his plate and walked into the kitchen with Lily.

"Don't ask her those questions," Lily whispered.

"She brought it up," James said.

"Mother is very sensitive about her father or lack thereof. She doesn't need you interrogating her."

"I wasn't!" James said. "We were having a civilized conversation. I think you're getting a little paranoid about this. You're mother is just fine about this conversation, you're the one who changed the sub--" he stopped suddenly. "Hang on," he said, "is there something you're not telling me?"

"Don't be ridiculous," she said, putting both their plates into the sink.

"Are you afraid that I might leave you, or something?" he asked.

"Of course not," she said. "I just don't like hearing that story about my grandfather, alright?"

"Why?" he asked. "Aren't you curious about him?"

"No. I've heard enough about that bastard. His relation to me is very...Star Wars," she said.

"What is 'Star Wars?'" James asked.

"It's not important, alright? I'm nothing like my grandfather, and my mother isn't either, and that's all you need to know about him."

"That's not what it sounds like to me, Lily. You want to tell me about him, I can see it in your eyes. Do you want to meet him, or something? This isn't making much sense."

"He's dead. And even if he were alive I wouldn't want to meet with him. I don't want any connection with him or his family. It's not a big deal."

"You're making it one," James told her. "This is bothering you, I can tell. Why don't you tell me what it is?"

Lily opened her mouth, then shut it abruptly. "It's not important," she mumbled, looking down at the floor.

James went to push the matter, but at that moment Artemis, his falcon, slipstreamed into the manor. The blue amulet on her chest was glowing-she had a message. She perched herself on his shoulder so he could read the coded message.

"What is it?" Lily asked.

James read the small letter. "I've gotta go," he said urgently. 

"Why?" she asked, walking with him to the door.

"I can't tell you. Something happened, and we might have someone in custody. We'll continue this conversation later. Tell your folks I'm sorry about this."

"James, can't someone else handle this?"

"No. I love you, Lily," he said, kissing her.

"I love you too," she told him. He Disapparated seconds later.

*******************************************************************************************************************************

I know, not enough Sirius. Next chapter, I'll get more of him in there. Ciria, leave me your email address please.


	28. July's End

***The Marauder Chronicles; The end of Innocence, is a fan fiction.  Some characters belong to J.K. Rowling.  IWBI concept belong to me, as do other original characters.  No copyright infringement is intended, this story isn't to be duplicated or sold***

Note: If you are disappointed and find some of this chapter to be "cliché" then I'm sorry you feel that way.  I have set this up, and you'll know what in a short while, to introduce another important theme and to theorize, correctly or incorrectly I do not know, which is why it's called a theory, about why things happened they way they did in the books "Harry Potter."  If you're going to leave a review attacking me with harsh words of anger, disappointment, "you're a boring and terrible writer," because of this, even after I have made this statement, I will delete the review, and if you signed it I will block you.  I'm tired of getting reviews like that from people who are frustrated with my story after reading it for so long.  Please don't do that.  If you have a *constructive* criticism then go ahead, but if you're going to repeat what I have just said…I'll cut it.  If you have read this long, and this is one of the longest fan fictions on this site, then hopefully you will continue to read after this chapter.  If not, hopefully you will read my next story.  And even if you don't, thank you anyway.

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Five: July's End

James was escorted by security the moment he appeared in the Bureau.  They instructed him not to speak or ask questions until he was asked to do so.  Baffled and curious, James obeyed them and walked in between the group of security wizards up to the Intelligence sector where he had never been before.

            The Intelligence sector looked very similar to the Counterintelligence one, so much so that he couldn't tell the difference.

            The four security wizards led him into a conference room that had been turned into an interrogation room.  In the room with him was Ashika Narayan, his director, and a very tall man whom James assumed to be the director of the Intelligence sector.  

            "Sit down, Mr. Potter," he said.

            James did as he was told and sat at the end of the table.

            "This is Rushmore Stile," Ashika said, holding her hand up to the man.

            "What's going on?" James asked.

            "What is your relationship to Mr. Burgess?" Rushmore asked.

            James was perplexed by the question but answered it anyway.  "He's an acquaintance of mine.  We talk about some stuff."

            "What kind of stuff?" Ashika asked.

            "Quidditch, um...his girlfriend, my wife, stuff.  What's is this all about?" he asked, this time looking to Ashika.

            "Guy Burgess was uncovered this morning.  He's a mole, James.  As of yet he has not been caught, but we know he's a Death Eater working here.  We need to know the kind of relationship you have with him.  We need to know what he has been saying to you."

            James couldn't believe what she had told him.  Guy, a Death Eater?  "Are you sure?" James asked.

            "Yes," Ashika said.  "How we know that is not your concern."

            "Wait one second," James said, holding up his hand.  "This is way too much for me right now.  Guy can't be a spy against us; he just can't."

            "The ones closet to us are the most effective, Potter," Rushmore said.  "Has he said anything about the Dark Lord to you?"

            James thought for a second.  Now that they mentioned it, he had on several occasions, but didn't everyone during these times?  "Yes," James said.  "But so does my wife, and I doubt she's a spy."

            "What has he said specifically?" Ashika asked.

            Again, James collected his thoughts.  "The usual.  'He's getting stronger, how far do you think he'll go?  What would it take to join...'" James stopped. They had talked about the Dark Lord but not really in an admonishing way.  James looked to the directors, both of whom were smirking.  "Maybe he is," James said faintly.

            "He is.  A year ago a letter was intercepted.  It was going to the Dark Lord from here," Ashika said.

            "Like he wanted to be caught," Rushmore added.

            "It was encoded.  Your friend Sirius broke the code.  The letter was about you, trying to cross you over to the dark side, requesting more time.  That was over a year ago, however.  Since then the letters have been changing.  You see, after we intercept them, we allow them to go through so he thinks he's fooling us.  He's not."

            "This letter," James said, "it named me specifically?"

            "Not exactly.  I know it is referring to you, and that is all you need to know.  Since then I have placed high security around you, watching your every move to see who came in contact with you.  But then Black broke through again and hypothesized about whom the mole could be.  Burgess came up positive."         

            James could hardly believe his ears, yet at the same time the pieces were beginning to fall into place.  He took off his glasses and pinched his nose, letting out a long sigh.  "Why is he trying to cross me over?" James asked.

            "We don't know," replied Rushmore.  "But we have reason to believe that those efforts have been cancelled, at least as of now.  We think that there is a connection to your father's death and to this effort, but we don't know for sure."

            "He was killed because he was an Auror," James said.  

            "Yes and no," Rushmore said.  "He didn't go looking for You-know-who, it was the other way around."

            James let that wash over him before he spoke again.  Voldemort had hunted his father down?  He was murdered over three years ago, and this was the first he heard of it?  James shook his head, then looked back to the directors.  "Why haven't I been told this before?"            

            "There was no reason to," Ashika said.  "But now we need your help, and we're giving you all you need to know."

            "I don't have a reason to know how my father died?" James said bitterly.  "Look, I think you know a lot more than you're telling me, and I _do_ need to know!  What is going on here?  Why does Voldemort want me?  What was in that code?  What do you want from me?" James yelled.

            Rushmore was about to start yelling back, but Ashika stopped him.

            "That's fair," she told her counterpart.  "We need you to go along with Burgess and find out what he's doing.  That's what is going on, and that is what we want from you.  We don't know why Voldemort wants you.  You're a talented wizard, no one is questioning that, but why you...we don't know.  As for the code, I don't know that it is appropriate to show you that right at this moment, but I will at the right time.  We do know this: Voldemort is not happy with your latest news."

            "You mean the baby?" James asked, fearing the answer.           

            "Correct."

            "Why?" 

            Rushmore shook his head.  "We don't know, Potter.  We've tried looking at your genealogy, but there is nothing too significant on your side of the family.  You had some very wealthy ancestors, but they all kept to themselves and didn't cause any trouble.  We can't find any other reason for him to be angry about it."

            "My side," James said.  "What about Lily's?"

            Ashika gave a rare smile to him.  "That is something you need to ask your wife.  She's been keeping something from you, James.  She doesn't want you to know about her ancestors, one in particular."

            James reflected on the conversation he had with her before his departure just minutes ago.  "Her grandfather," he mumbled to himself.

            "Yes, on her mother's side.  It's really quite fascinating how small this world is, and even smaller England seems to be.  But it explains Mrs. Dursley's personality and temper."  Ashika drew a small slip of paper from a file which sat before her.  She smirked then handed it to James.  "Suddenly now seems the right time for it.  This is the code which Sirius Black broke over one year ago."

            James hesitated but eventually grabbed it.  He read: _'Trying to cross over.  Unable so far. Married the Riddle granddaughter.  Need more time.  Keep open channels and keep Russ out of it.  Eureka.'_

"Riddle granddaughter?" James whispered.

            "Tom Riddle, Voldemort's father, had an affair with Lily's grandmother and had a bastard child.  Lily shares a link.  She has good reason to cover this up.  She is related to him in a very strange way."

            James stared at Ashika as she explained this, but he couldn't come to grips with it.  His Lily related to that monster?  No, impossible.  This had to be a joke or something.  It was too strange, to operatic to be true.  But the look in her eyes when her grandfather was mentioned...

            "She described it as being very Star Wars," James said.  "What does that mean?"

            Ashika laughed.  "It's a movie now.  A Muggle movie in which the hero's father is the villain and darkness of the universe.  He didn't know until he was confronted with it.  It's one way to describe it."

            "This can't be," James said, his head shaking.  "Lily would have told me about it.  She tells me everything."

            "No she doesn't," Ashika said.  "She didn't tell you this.  She hasn't told you that she wants to be a doctor right now, not a mother."

            James leapt out of his chair.  "What the hell are you trying to pull?  My marriage is none of your business.  I don't care what trade you practice!  I don't know how you find this information about us, but leave it alone!"

            "We need your help to catch Burgess and others like him," Rushmore explained, effectively changing the subject.  "Find out what Burgess knows; find out what he's doing."

            James ran his fingers through his hair and paced the room.  "Why can't you do that," he asked Rushmore.

            "We are.  He's good at this.  Play along with his game for a while, and see where it leads.  You want answers just as badly as we do, Potter."

            He does have a point, James thought.  You want to know what's been going on.  He could have been the one who leaked information to Voldemort about the rescue mission and uncovered the agents.  But Lily?

            "So I just listen to what he has to say and encourage the conversation?" James asked.

            "Yes," Rushmore said.  "But don't be too obvious."

            "I'm not an idiot," James said.  He took some deep breaths then nodded.  "Alright, I'll do it."

            "Perfect," Ashika said, standing up and making her way for the door.  "Report to me directly using the guise that you're informing me about a mission."  She made a head motion and the security team came back in to escort James back to his sector.

******

Sirius whistled loudly as he folded, or tried to fold but failed, his laundry.  Nothing had really changed in his life other than the feeling of responsibility, which was not yet in full swing and wouldn't be until the end of July.  

            There was a soft knock on the door.

            "It's open," Sirius said.

            Jade opened the door and stepped in cautiously.  "You're cleaning?" she asked, looking around the severely cluttered apartment.

            "Nah, doesn't need cleaning."

            "Of course it doesn't.  Um, I was going through my stuff, because I _was_ cleaning, and I found some of your stuff," she said, showing him a box.

            "Oh," he said, taking it from her.  "You don't have to give this back."  He pulled out a shirt of his.  "You really liked it."

            "Well it's yours.  I mean it still fits you, doesn't it?  And it smells like you," she said, handing it back to him.

            "No, you keep it.  It's blue, and blue is your favorite color."

            "Blue is everyone's favorite color," she said with seriousness.

            "No it's not."

            "Yeah it— hey," she said, picking up a magazine from underneath an article of clothing.  "You have a subscription?"

            Sirius's cheeks got a bit red.  Jade was holding up a Harley Davidson catalog.  On the front cover was a shiny motorcycle, but seated on the machine was a scantily clad blonde with a suggestive look on her face.

            "Uh," Sirius said, trying to take it back, but Jade pulled it away from him.  "They just send that to me.  I don't actually read that or look through it."

            "No?" she asked.

            "This is me we're talking about," he said.

            Jade flipped through the magazine, stopping on some pages to show him the pictures of nearly naked women.  "Some of these pages look as though they've been flipped through a number of times. Oh and look at this—a page has been torn out."

            "Must be the resident rats.  Perverts," he said, shaking his head.  "Let's put that down now, you're too young to be looking at that stuff."

            "Sirius, this is a little like porn," she said, giving the magazine back to him.

            "No it isn't.  And you know what?  I find it hard to believe that you don't look at muscular men in magazines."

            "So what if I do?  They're not looking like those women, that's for sure."

            "That's probably a good thing," he said.  "You've been looking at dirty magazines since we broke up?  You need a substitution for me, don't you?"

            Jade gave a hollow laugh then stepped back.  "Don't flatter yourself," she said.

            "No, no.  I think you still pine for me.  I've seen the way you look at me from across the room."

            "Really?  And how do I look at you?" she asked.

            "Lustfully."

            She laughed again then slapped her hands together.  "That's rich, Sirius."

            He grinned.  "It's true.  I think you want me, and it's tearing you up inside."

            Jade cocked an eyebrow.  "Oh?" she asked.  "I seem to remember a certain someone kissing another woman when we were dating."

            "It wasn't you, was it?" he asked, then laughed at his joke.  "Oh come now, it was a long time ago, Jade.  Can't we forgive and forget?"

            "I can forgive, and I have, but forgetting the way you kissed her...that's easier said than done."

            "Well, I was drunk and upset."

            "Well you had no reason to be.  I wasn't having an affair, as you thought I was."

            "Now wait just one minute," Sirius said.  "You spent an awful lot of time with him instead of with me."

            "For my job, not for him."

            "How was I supposed to know that?" he asked, his voice rising.

            "Because I told you, that's why.  It's something I like to call trust, Sirius.  I told you I was only attracted to you, not Kevin.  But you couldn't believe that for some reason.  You kissed that woman in a bar, a drunken kiss after our fight.  I saw you do it!  I saw how much you enjoyed it."

            "Hey, it took two people to break up this relationship!"

            "Yeah, you and that blonde!"

            "Why is it that women always blame it on the men?"

            "Oh don't even try to bring feminism into this.  I'm not a feminist in any way, so it won't work.  How was our break up my fault?  Really, tell me Sirius.  What did I do to break us up?"

            Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but no words came.  Both of Jade's eyes were wide, her arms crossed, and her toe was ready to start tapping.

            "Well," Sirius said, "you were working too much."

            Jade rolled her eyes.

            "It's true.  Admit it, Jade!" he yelled.

            "Fine.  I worked too much.  There was a period when I was required more than expected.  If I didn't work then I would have lost my position.  Should I have quit for you?"

            He didn't say anything, but shook his head slightly.

            "You were jealous," she said.

            "No I wasn't!"

            "Yes you were."

            "You thought it was charming."

            "I thought it was charming at first, but then you took it to a whole new level, didn't you?  You became obsessed with being jealous of someone who wasn't even close to you.  You had no reason to fear me being attracted to that dumbbell when I had you."

            Sirius watched her closely.

            "I smiled every time I heard your voice, or the mention of you name.  Don't you know what that means?  I had so much fun just talking to you, I felt like I could tell you everything.  Sirius, I loved you.  Didn't you know that?"

            He shook his head.

            "Well I did.  After we had that fight I went looking for you to fix everything, but you had already moved on.  Do you have any idea how much that hurt?"

            Sirius shuffled his feet.  "I was just as upset as you were," he said.  "I had a few too many drinks, and I lost control.  I'm sorry, Jade.  I'm so sorry."  He stepped closer to her, as if wanting to hug her.  "I didn't want to hurt you.  I would never do that on purpose."

            Jade wiped her damp eyes.  "Yeah," she said.

            "I'd never hurt you on purpose.  Can't we be friends?  Don't you want to smile when you hear my voice?"

            She stared at him.

            "Look," he said leaning against his wall, "we have two options.  We remain civil and friendly like we've been doing just fine, or we can bicker every time we see each other.  What do you want to do?"

            "I'll have to think about that," Jade mumbled.

            "We can't avoid each other!  James is my best friend and Lily is yours!" Sirius started to pace his apartment, kicking his clutter in frustration.  "It's de ja vu," he said to himself.  

            "Fine," Jade said.  "We'll be friends."

            "You want to shake on that?" he asked.

            "Why not?" she said, moving for him with her hand outstretched.

            "Friends for our friends," he said, taking her hand and shaking it.

            "Deal," she said, still shaking his hand.

            Sirius smirked in a smarmy way and looked down at their still shaking hands.

            "You want to let go of me?" he asked.

            "Why don't you let go of me?" she said, still shaking his hand.

            "I will when you do," he said smiling.

            "What's so funny?"

            "You."

            "Sirius, let go of me."

            "You let go of me."

            "I will but you have to let me go so I can go."

            Sirius sniggered.  "This is so typical of you," he said.

            "What is?"

            "Always having to win and have control.  Wait.  Now that I think about it, all women need control.  I think I'm finally starting to understand your species."

            "That is not true," Jade insisted.

            "Sure it is.  Look at Lily and James.  Try telling me that's an equal partnership.  Lily has controlled him since day one.  You all want to control us."

            "I can't believe we're having this stupid conversation."

            "I can't believe you're still holding my hand," he said.

            Jade looked down at his hand, which was holding hers.  She withdrew it quickly and stormed out of the apartment.

            "I'll see you around, friend!" Sirius yelled down the hall after her.

Since it was James's regular day off, he went back to the Evan's manor where he could question Lily about her family heritage.  The maid was in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner, Mr. Evans was on the phone with his hospital, and Mrs. Evans was humming to herself while she pruned some of her indoor plants.

            "Amanda," James said, going over to his mother-in-law, "where's Lily?"

            "Oh, she's upstairs in the attic.  Where did you run off to?"

            "There was a bit of an emergency at work, but I took care of it.  I'm going to talk to Lily for a second," he said, pointing upwards.

            "Alright dear," Mrs. Evans said.

            James walked up to the attic, thinking of how to best approach the subject of Lily's grandfather without upsetting her, which was fairly easy to do these days.  He knocked softly on the door, then peaked his head inside.

            Lily was sitting cross-legged on the floor, sifting through boxes.  "Hey," she said with a smile, "back so soon?"

            James walked inside and sat across from her.  "Everything has been sorted out," he started, "well, almost everything."

            "What do you mean by that?" she asked, but she avoided James's eyes.

            "Lily, I know."

            "Know what?"

            "I don't want to play games.  Lily I know about Riddle being your grandfather.  I just found out, and I can't believe you didn't tell me and that you weren't going to tell me.  How is our marriage going to work if you keep things from me?"

            "Who told you?" she asked, an air of tension in her tone.

            "Director Narayan," James said.

            Lily pounded her fist on a box.  "That bitch!" she yelled.

            "You've only met her once," James said, "how do you know she's a bit of a bitch?" he asked, thoroughly interested.  "It usually takes a little while to really know that about her."

            "She lit up a cigarette when I was in the room.  She could have damaged the baby.  If she knows everything in the world, then she should have known that."

            "Alright," he said, pulling back, "alright.  But why didn't you tell me about Riddle?" he asked in the nicest way he knew how.

            "I don't know," she said, looking down.

            James pulled her chin up so he could see her face.  "Lily," he said with a faint smile.

            "Because if anyone found out about me being related to that savage that has killed so many people..."

            "Lily you're nothing like him.  I can understand your fear, but you shouldn't be afraid of that.  Besides, I doubt very much that more than three people know about it.  You're grandmother didn't take his name, obviously, so it's almost impossible to trace."

            "That woman did it," Lily said.

            "Well she's smart and crafty.  I have respect for her knowledge, and she certainly has been around the bend, but she isn't great with people."

            "It's not just her, though," she said.  "I'll bet Voldemort knows."

            "I don't think we'll know about that, but if he did it could be to your advantage," James said.

            "Why, because I'm family?  I doubt that.  I don't even want to think about it."

            "When did you find out?" James asked.

            "After I started Hogwarts, of course.  Someone said, and I don't remember who, that Tom Riddle was Voldemort.  I knew the name sounded familiar.  That summer I heard my mother talking about him, and that's when I found out.  At first I thought surely it couldn't be true.  Riddle is not so uncommon, but mum told me the whole story.  She had never met him because he had been mysteriously murdered with his two parents.  Riddle might be a common name, but under those circumstances...I don't think it was coincidence.

            "I wanted to tell you, but I was so afraid that you wouldn't want me because of it."

            James chuckled lightly.  "That's ridiculous.  You can't help something like that."

            Lily snuffled, then wiped at her eyes before she cried.  "Why are you so sweet?" she asked.  

            "Well it's very hard work," he said seriously.  "It's an up at dawn thing, and I practice in the mirror sometimes."

            Lily smiled, and he grinned in return.  "You're going to be a good dad," Lily said.

            "I'll try," he said, still grinning.

            "Cory," Lily said.  

            "Cory?" James asked.  He nodded slightly then let his mind slip into a Quidditch stadium....

            "And now entering the field" the loud booming voice sounded to the ten thousand seated fans, "Cory Potter!"  At that moment, a slender boy with black hair and glasses shot out onto the field, the fans cheering his name.  On the back of his robes was "C. Potter."

            "No," James said, coming back to reality.  "Cory won't work."

            Lily sighed in disappointment.  "You have a little less than six months to come up with something we both like that's not strange or Greek."

            "That's plenty of time," James said.  "Cory didn't do anything for me."

****** March 3, 1980******

Sirius popped some candy into his mouth as he stared at his wall in his fairly new office.  There was nothing of great importance on this wall, no awards, no plaques, no family photos—it was just a blank wall.  But, it was his, and that was important.  It was the wall inside the upper division analysts' section, a wall that only the best saw.  A wall that simply said: Hey, you're good.

            Sirius nodded and grinned as he stared at his wall.  "I've worked here for two years," he said to himself.  "I sure do progress."

            I guess you could say the reason he wasn't analyzing anything at the moment was because there wasn't much to analyze.  There hadn't been anything of great substance passing through this office for weeks.  The lack of Dark activity put everyone on their guard, made them all desperately nervous, and allowed them time with which they would hypothesize, theorize, and wonder.

            But Sirius wasn't too worried for the time being; why should he be?  There was no reason the Dark wizards of the world would come looking for an analyst, especially one who was seemingly unoccupied.  His magical powers were above average but not much to fret about if you're Voldemort; Sirius wasn't competition for him.

            So Sirius spent some of his free time eating candy and thinking about all the activity going on, not in his life at the moment, but in James's life.

            James and Lily would be starting Lamaze class today, a class for expecting parents.  Sirius had heard of them before but had never seen one and wasn't too curious about them.  James told him it was more than just breathing class, but Sirius didn't really care; he was glad he didn't have to go.  "It's about natural child birth," James would say.  "And why take a class about something that happens naturally?" Sirius would ask.  James would roll his eyes, speak under his breath, and change the subject.

            They had also redone an entire room in the apartment.  What was simply the spare bedroom was now a full blown nursery, with light blue walls, a white crib and changing table, diaper bins, and wonderful charms which included an anti-stench spell, a sound muffler, and monitor spell.

            The apartment was free of sharp edges, hard edges, and sharp objects; the cabinets had wards against anyone under three feet tall from opening them.  Nothing small, which could fit into a baby's mouth, littered any part of the home. 

            The only thing they needed now was the baby, who still had no name.  But he was there, inside his mother, growing steadily.  Lily, being in her fifth month, was definitely starting to show physical changes in her body.  She wasn't very large as of now, but there was a small round pooch where her flat stomach used to be.  So far the young Potter wasn't very active inside, but Lily would say she could feel him moving just a little.

            On their refrigerator James and Lily had taped pictures of their unborn son.  In one corner was a picture of him at three weeks, when he was just starting to take human form, and his heart started to beat, to ten weeks, when his brain started to function, and the pictures continued.  They got them each time they visited the obstetrician, saying they wanted a log of their baby's life.  Sirius personally thought this was a bit eccentric, but he didn't tell them that.

            But Sirius couldn't help seeing a difference in how James and Lily viewed this change in their lives.  James seemed more anxious and excited about it than Lily, who seemed mildly pleased.  Sirius found this somewhat strange, thinking that all women wanted to have children like Jade did.  

            Lily focused mainly on her schoolwork again; final examinations of the semester and year were in the last weeks of June.  James complained about the time she was spending on her studies when finals were very far off, but Lily would come back saying that the reason she was the top student in the class was because of her persistence and studious attitude.

            When Lily wasn't around, James told Sirius many times that he was worried about her.  "I hope she gets her priorities figured out," he said one day over lunch.

            "You want her to quit," Sirius said.

            James shook his head.  "No.  There is no reason she needs to be beating herself up to be number one.  She's too competitive.  What's wrong with being good, not the best?"

            "Because that's not her.  She wants to be the best, she is the best, and she will always be at the top of that class.  That's the way she's built, James.  You know that."

            "Yeah," he said.  "We sure are in for a world of change."

            And when Lily wasn't studying for school, she was reading a book about babies: child development, parenting books, and others.  Sirius noticed that she would bite her nails when she read them, but he didn't know why, even though he asked.

            James, however, took a different approach.  James was to the point that when he introduced himself to people, he might as well have said he was having a son.  Sirius, who had known James his whole life, had never seen him look so excited and giddy.  As July came closer, he became more anxious.

            Sirius ate the last piece of candy, then crumpled the bag and threw it across the room into the trash receptacle.  He stood, stretched, flexed his toned muscles, then walked out of his small office, wishing that he could go outside, but there were no windows in the Bureau or doors leading to nature.  

            "I can't believe you won," Matt Sanders, his former mentor, said to him as he handed Sirius a bag of gold.

            "Well, you have to see the hidden talent.  I knew Parker would catch the snitch before Hansen.  They played in California, where it's windy right now, and Hansen is from Alice Springs, Australia, desert.  I knew Parker, the heaviest, would win against the light and speedy Hansen.  You have to do your homework when you bet against me," Sirius said, taking the gold and pocketing it.

            He grinned then continued on to the front desk, hoping there was something he could work on.  "Anything for me?" he asked.

            "Yes, actually.  It came straight from Director Narayan's office.  I was just going to get you," the girl said, handing him a file.

            "Bless you," he said to her.  He started back for his office, then opened the file.  It was compiled of a series of different statements, interviews, photographs, and motion film of Guy Burgess who was now tagged with being a double agent.  Sirius recognized James's handwriting on most of the written reports.  They were written in a journal form with the date at the top of each page.  Sirius pulled the stack of parchment out of the file and began to read.

            '_Wednesday_ _February 13, 1980'_

            _I met with Guy Burgess at approximately 12:14 p.m., London time_, _for lunch.  Everything with him seemed normal.  We had a brief conversation about the Quidditch match between England and the Western United States, then moved on to more serious matters.  Burgess started to discuss the plundering of another English town by the Dark Lord.  His manner was strangely casual.  I mentioned that it was a terrible thing, he agreed with a head nod then noted the Dark Lord's success.  I also agreed._

_            Burgess then engaged me with conversation about the tactics which the Dark Lord uses, citing fear with the use of murder and suspicion.  He said that even though the acts are horrible, they are proving effective on the public of the world.  I agreed with him._

_            Burgess then asked of me what I might do if I had that kind of power.  I responded with question.  I said I wasn't sure._

_            He then started to ask me about my wife, Lily, and how she was doing.  I told him she was fine.  He questioned me about the pregnancy, how far along she was, when the baby was due, etc.  I answered him with reservation._

_            At one sharp, he left for his office, upon which time I wrote this report._

_                        ~James B. Potter, Operations Director, Counterintelligence.'_

Many of the reports were similar.  Guy was a very patient man, and Sirius wasn't surprised that he hadn't been discovered for so long.  His movements were small, discrete, and very slow— perfect if you didn't want to be caught.

            After he read each report from James, members of the security team, and various other agents who were watching Burgess, Sirius examined the photos and motion film.  Even he, one of the best analysts in the sector, had trouble detecting anything out of the ordinary.  It looked as though Guy lead a very normal life and had a stubbornly clean record with the law.  

            Sirius tossed the folder onto his desk, and ran his fingers through his shiny black hair.  "When do you go to the Fortress?" he asked as he looked at the Bureau photo of Burgess.  "Or maybe you don't."

Remus filled out yet another evidentiary form for what seemed to be an insignificant piece of 'evidence,' a toothbrush.  But though he felt his mind was being wasted on this job, he was still glad he had it.  He managed to glance at his watch quite frequently, thinking of how much money he had made and how much longer he had left for the day.

            One more hour, he could do it.  And then a most unlikely visitor dropped by.

            "Peter?" Remus said.

            "Hello," he said in a nervous squeak, looking around the round room.  

            "What are you doing here?" he asked.

            "I'm delivering some files to the upper floor."

            "Where have you been, Peter?  No one's seen you for weeks."

            "I've been moving out.  I saved enough money to have my own place," he said with a smile.  

            "That's terrific," Remus said.  "Do you need help moving?"        

            "No.  I'm almost done.  How are James and Lily doing?" he asked.

            "Fine so far."

            "When's their baby due?" he asked.      

            "Sometime in July.  The twenty-third or fourth as I recall.  She looks pregnant now, you should drop by and say hello."

            Peter agreed to it, then walked up the stairs to deliver his files.

*******

"Now, let's practice our breathing," a thin woman said in an annoying airy voice.  "Breath in," she said, then demonstrated, "and breath out.  Very good."  

            There were about eight expecting couples in the room, James and Lily included.  All of them were sitting on fluffy carpeting, wives in front of husbands who were supporting in the breathing exercises.  So far they had gone over the importance of correct breathing, and promised a video on childbirth in the not so distant future.

            "Good, so they show us how much pain we'll be experiencing," one woman said.  When others gave her a questioning look, she explained that she was on her third child.  "You'd think that with magic, they could reduce labor pain, right?  No, no, no.  I was in painful labor for twenty hours with my first child."

            "She's optimistic," James said in Lily's ear.

            "Now it's story time," the thin woman said.

            "Why is she talking to us like that?" Lily asked.

            "I don't know, but it's irritating," James answered.

            "You think she's had kids?" Lily asked in a whisper.

            "Probably not.  You know the expression, if you can't do it, teach it."

            "Today," the woman started again, "we have parents who have come to tell us about natural childbirth.  I would like for us to give a warm welcome to Mrs. Molly Weasley who just gave birth to her sixth child!"

            "Oh dear," James said.

            A short, red-haired woman came into the room with mild applause to greet her.  She looked very friendly, for she had a warm smile playing about her lips.  She was a little overweight, and her skin looked loose, though it should if she had just given birth.

            "Hello everyone," she said.  The rest of them nodded back to her.  "As Betsy said, I just gave birth to my sixth child, and sixth boy, little Ron.  We were trying for a girl, but obviously we didn't have one, so maybe next time.  I'm feeling outnumbered, you see.  The testosterone level is almost unbearable, and my twin boys, who are almost two-years-old, are driving me to insanity and—" Molly stopped as Betsy waved her off.  "Oh, sorry.  I came to this Lamaze class for my first two boys, and it really helped me with giving birth."

            "How long were you in labor?" a woman asked.

            "It got less and less each time.  When I delivered William it took a lot longer than with Ron.  Are you on your first?" Molly asked.

            "Yep," she said.

            "Time varies for each woman."  Then she talked about the actual birth and didn't gloss over the immense pain it caused her.  She used words like "excruciating," and phrases such as "I almost killed my husband," which got all the women laughing.

            Lily found it very appropriate that Molly was there, seeing as how she had a vast knowledge on the subject.  Molly told them she was a stay-at-home mother and never regretted a second of it.  She said she liked having a large family, though they were all male.  She said it made everything very close and supportive.

            After a brief question and answer period, Molly brought in her newborn.  Even the men were touched.  Ron was very small, weighing in at seven pounds and seven ounces, and rarely opened his eyes when all the women cooed over him.  He made tiny murmuring noises when Lily touched his soft face and moved his little body closer to his mother when he was done with all the attention.

            "He's precious," most of them said.

            "Thank you," Molly replied.  She wished all of them luck, then, with Ron in her arms, she left.  Not too long after Molly's departure, the first Lamaze meeting ended.

            James and Lily walked hand in hand on the street afterwards, talking about the class.  "He was cute," Lily said of Ron.  "So small and helpless."

            "Four months until we have one of our own," James told her.

            "Yeah, four more months."

******June 7, 1980******

"Um, Lily," James said, looking over the newspaper, "did you know you're wearing two different shoes?"

            Lily looked down, then sighed.  "I can't see my shoes," she said.  "How is it that I've gained over twenty pounds for a six pound baby?  It's funny how much I miss seeing my feet."

            Though the weight gain had been very slow yet progressive during the first two trimesters, the third had proven completely different.  Lily would tell people that as soon as she hit month six, the baby hit a major growth spurt.  She had been reading, of course, about fetal development and knew that the third trimester was when the baby grew the most.  And while she was expecting this to happen, she wasn't quite ready for the size she would grow to.

            Lily had always been very small.  Her waist was always tiny, so much so that she was the envy of all the girls.  Lily was also a short woman; the top of her head reached James's chin.  But being eight month's pregnant gave her a different appearance.

            Lily often complained that she looked like a beached wale, or like someone who had swallowed an entire watermelon whole.  In fact, she was quite round.  She could no longer lay flat on her back, she frequented the bathroom on the hour, every hour, and she often slipped on non-matching shoes because she couldn't see her feet.

            "Ow!" she exclaimed, touching her stomach.

            "What, what happened?" James asked, throwing down his newspaper.

            "He kicked me again," she said, rubbing the soar spot.  "Why is he always kicking me?  And his elbow.  Why can't he get it in the right place?  Ow!" she said again.  "You behave down there," she said to her stomach.  "Do you hear me, young man?"

            James always laughed when she did this, which was often.  It seemed that the baby was very active inside the womb, always kicking or punching.  

            It was a very big day when everyone first saw the light change on Lily's stomach.  "He's moving!" Lily said to everyone who was in the room.  All of them shoved each other out of the way to feel the young Potter moving around.  Jade had a very vicious fight with the others to be the first, but James insisted that he be the first one.

            They were lucky again when they witnessed the baby turning over so his head pointed south.  Lily had grabbed James's forearm and opened her mouth as she felt the strange sensation.

            "It looks like he's got a really big head," Peter had said.

            "Well of course he has," Lily answered.  "It's to carry the really big brain to support his genius-ness."  But after those moments, the movements became routine to her yet special for everyone else.  People would tell her that she had a very active baby.  Lily would snap back and say, "Like I didn't know that."

            Her mood swings were awful by James's standards.  One moment he would be the spawn of Satan to her, the next he was the most wonderful man in the world and bring her tears of happiness.  He knew she couldn't help it, but at times it was almost unbearable.

            "What time are you're friends coming over?" James asked.

            "I think eleven or so.  Mum planned it and said she'd bring everything that's needed.  She just had one of these things last month for Petunia."

            "What did you give her?" James asked.

            "A blanket.  A yellow one since she doesn't know what it is.  I guess she didn't open it in front of her friends, didn't want them knowing about the evil witch of a sister she has.  But at least she opened it."

            "You're not evil," he told her.

            "I know.  She's evil, not me.  Anywho, I take it you won't be sticking around for the baby shower?."     

            "That's correct," he said with a smile.  "Those kind of functions are for you girls."

            "Sirius is taking you somewhere isn't he?" Lily asked.

            "Yeah."

            "Gotcha.  Probably a really exciting Quidditch match where lots of people get hit with those bolder balls."

            James winced.  "_Bludgers,_" he corrected her.

            "Whatever, you knew what I meant.  When are you leaving?"

            "In about an hour or so."

            "He's moving again," she said, taking his hand and placing it on her stomach.  "You feel that?"

            "Yes," he said, grinning.  "I think he's going to be really strong."

            "And brilliant," Lily added.

            "That's a given," James said.

            "He'll have to be, I mean, look at us."

            "I know.  You and I are almost full blown intellectuals.  We're too modest to act like it."

            "Precisely," she said.  "We don't want to turn our friends away with our astounding minds."

            James chuckled then kissed her gently.  "I love you," he said.

            "Mmmm," she mumbled, pulling him in for a deeper kiss than he gave her.  "You have an hour?" she asked.

            "A whole hour," he told her.

            "What are we going to do with all that time, I wonder," she said.

            "We could pay the bills," James said, raising his eyebrows.

            Lily laughed at his analogy.  "How much money have you got?"

            "How much do I owe?" he asked, walking behind her and kissing her neck.

            Lily smiled.  "You owe a lot, mister."

            He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and went to kiss her.  She hooked her arm back so her hand was on the back of his head, her other hand on his.  It wasn't one of those kisses you'd ever see in a movie, because those are generally fake, but this one got the baby moving again.

            "Oh no," Lily said, touching her stomach.

            "What is it?" James asked.

            "He's already developing the Oedipus complex."

            "He's going to have to deal with it," he replied, leading her out of the kitchen.

Roughly forty-five minutes later, the doorbell announced that Mr. and Mrs. Evans were waiting to come in.  Lily thought their timing was peculiar and wondered why her father had come.  She left the bathroom with her hair still out of place, hairbrush in hand.

            "Here's your shirt," she said, picking it up and throwing it to him.

            "Thanks," he said.  "Why are your folks here?"

            "Search me.  Come out when you're presentable."

            "You don't think I'm presentable?" he asked, his shirt open and his hair most untidy.  

            "I mean for my parents," she giggled.  "You can look like that all the time when it's just us."

            She left him to get dressed then walked to the door.  When she opened it, both her parents started talking very quickly.  They walked in without her inviting them, both a flutter with some kind of news.

            "One at a time," Lily said.  "What's happening?"

            "We're grandparents!" they both yelled.

            "What?"

            "Petunia just gave birth!  Vernon phoned us from the hospital!" Mr. Evans said.

            "Just now?  She just had it?  Now?" Lily asked.

            "Yes!" Mrs. Evans said, her face flushed.

            "Well what is it?" Lily asked.

            "She had a boy, Lily!" Mr. Evans said.

            "A boy?" Lily said.  "But I'm having a boy."

            "We're going to have two grandsons," Mr. Evans said as he turned to his wife to start jumping again.  Lily walked briskly to her bedroom and nearly ran into James.  

            "Petunia had the audacity to give birth to a boy.  A boy.  Can you believe that?" she said to him.

            "That's great isn't it?" he asked.

            "No it's not.  She can't have a boy!" Lily said.

            James hesitated.  "Why not?"

            "Because I'm having one.  Don't you see what's going on here?"

            "No," James said.

            "She's copying me."

            James couldn't help but laugh at this statement.  "She had hers first, so it's hardly copying."

            "But I wanted the boy," she said.

            "Lily," he replied, holding her shoulders, "what are you worried about?  It doesn't matter that hers is a boy.  Ours is going to be smarter, stronger, better looking, and much more talented than her son, right?"

            "Yes, but still." 

            "But still you're acting crazy about this, Lily.  Let's go out and talk to your parents about this boy."

            "Will you let me go over to that hospital and change the sex with some magic?"

            "Lily!" James said.  

            "What?"

            James didn't answer; he shook his head and walked Lily back out into the entryway. 

            "Congratulations," James said to the two of them.  "Have you seen him yet?"

            "No, they won't let anyone in to see him.  Vernon said we could come by in the afternoon.  It's so exciting!" Mrs. Evans said.

            "Little Dudley is his name.  Little Dudley Dursley."

            Lily snorted with laughter.  It took her a while to calm down.

            "That's the best they could come up with?" she said.

            "I think it's cute," Mrs. Evans said.

            "Well it is a cute name, I guess.  But it starts and ends the same way as their last name.  D-U in Dudley, D-U in Dursley.  It would be like us naming our kid Porter Potter.  That's a horrible name.  All right, so we don't name him anything that starts with 'P' or ends in 'R,'" Lily said to James.

            "Because we were going to go that way?"

            "Just cooperate with me," Lily said.

            "Well, I've gotta run, Sirius will be expecting me," James said to her.  "Have a great shower, eat lots of cake, coo as much as you want," he said before kissing her goodbye.  "Robert, Amanda, congratulations again.  I'll see you around," and with that he left.

            "Dudley," Lily said to herself.  "Dudley Dursley.  Dudley Dursley.  The more you say it the dumber it sounds," she said before dissolving into the giggles.

Sirius, Remus, Peter, and James all took their seats at the London Quidditch Stadium for the World Cup playoffs.  England was to play France, and England was expected to win.  Sirius had won the seats in a recent Quidditch bet he had against some wizards in the Intelligence sector and, as usual, came out winning.

            "I hope we kick their sorry asses," Sirius said.  He took up his omnoculars and stared down into the field.

            "We will," James said.

            "God I hope so.  You know some French guy called me arrogant the other day.  A Frenchmen called me arrogant.  That's when you know the world is upside down," Sirius commented.

            "It's going to be a long match," Remus said, looking at the program.  "They've got the same odds."

            "Yeah but we have one advantage that they don't have," Sirius said.

            "What's that?" Remus asked.

            "We're not French," Sirius answered.  The four of them shared a good laugh just as the game commenced.  Remus was correct in saying it was a long match, but it certainly wasn't boring.  Surely the friction between France and England contributed to the action involved in the game.  There were many injuries, tons of fouls, and plenty of scoring.

            "This is so much better than some shower," James said.

            "I can't imagine going to one of those," said Sirius.  "I sent my gift with Jade."

            James and Remus smirked.

            "What?" Sirius asked.

            "Oh nothing," James said. 

            "Don't tell me that.  You have a look, both of you do."

            "You seem to be on good terms with her...again," Remus said innocently.

            "She's just my friend, and we're not on great terms," Sirius said defensively.

            "Uh huh," James said.

            "What, you think there's something more?  There's not, trust me."

            "Of course there isn't," Remus said.  "Why would there be, you were only in love with her."

            "I was not!" Sirius yelled.  James and Remus sniggered.

            "What's going on?" Peter asked.

            "Sirius was in love with Jade a while back, but he denies it.  He never told her, but I know he loved her and probably still does," James said.

            "He's lying Pete," Sirius said.

            "No, James is being honest.  You look at Jade the same way James looks at Lily," Remus said.

            "Ew," Sirius said, "I do not.  That's disgusting."

            "Thanks Sirius," James said.

            "Well you guys are way too flirtatious when you look at each other."

            "It's the look of love, and you have it when you look at Jade," Remus said.

            "I don't see it," Peter said.

            "Oh it's there," James taunted.

            "You're both crazy.  We're just friends.  Besides, she won't ever forget what happened between us."

            "She'll get over it," Remus said, "give her time, and she'll get over it."

            "I could bet on this kind of thing," James said to Remus.  "I'm thinking they'll hook back up by...November."

            "November, eh?" Remus asked.  "No, sooner.  I'm saying August."

            "How much?" James asked.  "Five galleons?"

            "Yeah, I can't spare more than that," Remus said.

            "Then we have a bet."

            Sirius rolled his eyes and sighed.

Lily was only halfway through her gifts by twelve o'clock.  Her mother had invited some of Lily's fellow students and family friends, her bridge friends, and Lily's personal friends.  Lily, therefore, had lots of gifts.  It had, as James suspected, turned out to be a very large coo gathering.  With each present Lily opened, all the women went "Ahhhh" and talked in small voices.  She had several blue pajamas, plenty of blankets, tiny socks, hats, cute outfits with small fluffy pictures on them, small shoes, and an assortment of other adorable gifts.    

            Sirius pulled out all the stops and gave a small leather jacket, a miniature to the one he had.  He had also given small sunglasses, and a black warmer hat with "Harley Davidson" written on the front.  Everyone found it irresistibly cute.

            After cake (Lily had three large pieces) and stories about babies, the guests left.  Not long after, Lily's parents left for the hospital to see Dudley.  Only Jade stayed behind to help clean up and put all the gifts in the nursery.  

            "Are you excited?" Jade asked, folding a t-shirt for the baby.

            "Yes," Lily said, "if for no other reason for not being pregnant anymore."

            "No, I mean are you glad that you're having a baby?"

            "Yes.  I want children.  Sometimes I think I wished I wasn't pregnant so I could finish med school, but at the same time I really want to be a mother.  It's hard to describe the feeling.  James, he's so happy about it.  Just last night he was talking to the baby, telling him about his life, and how we got together, Quidditch, and the like.  I had to tell him to stop so I could go to sleep."

            "He's so sweet, Lily," Jade said.

            "I know he is.  Speaking of sweet," Lily started, "wasn't the leather jacket the best thing?  I think Sirius might be coming around."

            "I know where this is going," Jade said, "and no."

            Lily giggled then bit her tongue. "Oh please, Jade.  Why not?  You can forgive him, it really wasn't a big deal in the scheme of things."

            "If James had done that while you were just dating...?"

            "You really can't compare the two.  James and Sirius are quite different.  I mean, if you think about what Sirius did, it's kinda sweet.  Just think about it.  He went out and got drunk because he was devastated that it was over with you.  He loved you.  You know that don't you?"

            "He never said it.  He never shared anything with me.  He's just a vault of secrets, and he won't give anyone the key."

            "He is private, but I bet you could crack him open with time.  Lots of time."

            "He only tells James things, not me."

            "Well things could change.  Don't pretend you don't want him back.  Let's run down the pro list on Sirius.  He's dead sexy, smart, has a great sense of humor, a good body, a good heart...what's not to like about him?"

            "You're married to James," Jade said with a smile, "you can't marry Sirius."

            "You know what I'm trying to say.  You should give him a second chance.  You'd have beautiful kids."

            Jade smirked.  "He is handsome, isn't he?"

            "I think he knows that."

            "That is one of his many flaws."

            "Well, you know you're pretty, and I know that I used to be pretty until I blew up.  We all see our reflections in the mirror."

            "You haven't blown up," Jade said.  "Your face is still thin."

            "That's the only thing.  I have to wear my rings on a chain around my neck because my fingers started to swell.  Look at these fat fingers," she said, shoving her hands in Jade's face.  "They're like salamis.  And my ankles, have you seen those?  I can't wait to deliver this kid."

******July 3, 1980******

Lily waddled into the kitchen and crossed off the "July 2nd" space on her calendar.  Today, as was marked, was her twentieth birthday.  It was also extremely warm.  She never really knew how hot it could get in July; it never bothered her before.  But now that she weighed in at over one hundred and fifty pounds, thirty of which was attached to her front like a watermelon, the heat most certainly bothered her.

            "Happy birthday, beautiful," James said as he walked into the kitchen.

            "Thank you," she said.  "Wouldn't it be nice if it was someone else's birthday as well?"

            "It would be, but do you want to share it with him?"

            "Not really," she said, still examining the calendar.  "How about Nicholas?"

            James curled up his nose.  "Never."

            "He's not coming out until you pick a name for him.  He can hear us."

            "He can hear us, but he can't understand what we're saying.  I don't like Nicholas,and I could swear you're asked me about that one before."

            "Well you only like weird names, not common ones, and Nicholas could be both."

            "No.  I liked some common names, like Cory, just not for our kid."

            "Well I'm tired of thinking about names."

            "Then don't think about them," James said.  He opened the refrigerator, which was now completely covered with the developing baby; the last picture showed him looking like a normal newborn...nearly.

            James pulled out a small cake which he had bought for her breakfast.  He had another cake planned for after dinner.  Lily's appetite had grown considerably now that she was feeding for two, and she was no longer concerned about gaining weight.

            "I'm sorry I have to go to work today," he said, cutting into the cake.

            "It's really not a big deal.  Twenty isn't one of the important ages.  I'll probably sit around under a fan and wait for labor pains."

            James chuckled.  "Sounds terrific."

            "Yeah, it's a shame you won't be here to listen to me gripe and complain.  I really wish he'd stop kicking me all the time, you know?  It's as if he hates me already."

            "Lily, he won't hate you.  He's probably hungry, have some cake," he said, pushing a large slab of gooey chocolate cake to her.

            "Oh," Lily said with gusto, "this looks so good.  I knew I liked you."

            "Milk?"

            "Please," she said through a large mouthful.  "Mmmm."

            James ate his cake and watched Lily enjoy hers.  She actually ate about half of it, belching at the end.  James laughed then kissed her goodbye.

            When he reached the Bureau he was greeted with a large whiteboard with a calendar of July mapped out in black ink.  Heading the calendar were the words "Potter baby due date."  James looked down the calendar and realized what it was: a pool.

            "Sirius," James said.  "You did this didn't you?"

            "Right-o," Sirius said, emerging from behind the board.  "I thought it only appropriate that you guess the first day and place your bet."

            "Lily will kill me if I say anything after the 23rd."

            "Lily won't find out so you can guess away."

            "Well," he said, examining the days.  "I like the nineteen for some reason.  Put me down for Saturday the nineteenth."

            With a wave of Sirius's wand, the words "James Potter" were written permanently on the whiteboard.

            "And you?" James asked.

            "I'm hoping he's born on my birthday, the twenty-seventh."  He waved his wand again and put his name on the corresponding day.

            "Isn't strange," James said.  "Lily's is today, yours is the twenty-seventh, and mine the eighth of August.  They're all so close, and now his.  It's curious."

            "Not so much," Sirius said.  "We're all close, aren't we?"

            James smiled.  "I suppose."

******July 30, 1980******

James was awakened by loud banging coming from the kitchen.  He had to go into work that day, thankfully, but certainly not this early.  He felt beside him; it was empty.  James squinted at the clock on his bed-stand.  Five in the morning.

            James swung out of bed and shuffled down to the kitchen.  Lily was slamming pots onto the stove, shutting the refrigerator door with excessive force, and banging the cabinets.  James could see that she had her jaw clenched tight, and a vein in her temple was throbbing.

            "Lily," he said timidly.

            "What?" she snapped.

            "Sweetheart, are you alright?" 

            As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew it was a bad idea to have inquired.

            "Do I look _alright_ to you?  How many people do you know that are overdue?  And I'm not just overdue; I'm now a week overdue.  A week!  Seven bloody days, James.  You have no idea what it's like to be seven days overdue.  I am tired of being pregnant!"

            She smashed a few eggs into a frying pan, shells included.

            "I swear I'm being punished for something.  The doctor," Lily said, "either knows bloody nothing, or there is something seriously wrong with our baby.  Seven days!  It's like he can hear what's going on, and he's scared to death to come out.  Hell, it's safer in there than it is out here."

            "We've been to a few doctors, and they've all said he's fine.  Sometimes they just take longer.  Do you want to have surgery?"

            "No," Lily said.  "I'm going to do this the normal natural way because it's safer.  I'm not taking an easier route and have a doctor remove him when I can push him out."

            Lily started to take the shells out of the pan and throw them into the sink.  "Did I wake you up?" she asked.

            "Nah," James said, tossing his hand in a dismissive way.  "I wanted to get up early."

            "You're not just saying that, are you?" she asked.

            "Would I lie to you, sweetheart?" he asked.

            "No," she said, wiping hair out of her eyes.  "You still love me, right?  Even though I'm like this."

            "Lily," James said walking towards her, "of course I still love you."

            "I don't mean to be like this, you know," Lily said, tears starting to flow.  "I have no control of my hormones."

            "Come here," James said, going to hug her.

            "We can't even hug because of this," she said, dissolving into tears.

            "You'll deliver very soon," he whispered into her ear.  "I'm sure of it."

At eight that morning, Sirius swung by to check on things, which he had been doing for several weeks.  Lily greeted him the same way she greeted everyone these days— not warmly.  He was used to it, but never liked it.  He offered her a flower, which made her cry.  She put it in a vase then walked to James for comfort.

            "Maybe I should call in sick," James said.  He smoothed out Lily's hair and kissed her forehead.  "Then I could stay here with you."

            "No, I'm fine," Lily said.  "You can go into work today," she sobbed, "I'll be fine."

            "Are you sure?" he asked.

            "Yes," she said nodding.  "Come home early, alright?"

            "I will," he said soothingly.  "You know, I bet that he would be born on the nineteenth," he added with a quick smile.

            Lily put her arms around his neck and kissed him.  "I love you," she sobbed.  "Be safe, okay?"

            "Okay."

            "Okay," she said feebly.  She walked back down the hall and into the bathroom.

            James turned around and saw Sirius's facial expression, which would have made him laugh any other day.

            "She's going crazy," Sirius said as they walked down the hall of the Bureau that morning.

            "Wouldn't you?  I can't blame her for any of this.  She's worried sick that something's wrong, as I am, and she's tired of it.  It's not easy being pregnant, and I'm just the one living with her.  Can you imagine being her?"

            "I can't imagine being you living with her.  What are the doctors saying?"

            "They say that it's very unusual to be overdue, but to be overdue this much is very rare and strange.  They've looked inside the womb, and they say he's fine.  We can still see him moving around like he's been doing for months.  His head is down in the right position, he's healthy...he just doesn't want to come out yet.  There's a surgical way to remove him, but Lily wants to go the natural route."

            "So when is she going to pop?"

            "Any day.  Now, tomorrow, another week, who knows?  Her emotions are all over the place.  I feel so sorry for her.  There's nothing I can do to make her feel any better, you know?  I took that class every other Monday for a few months and they didn't say a word about this kind of thing."

            "I hope it's soon," Sirius said.

            "You're not the only one."

Lily spent all day eating spicy food, dancing wildly around her home, and going to the theater with her mother to watch scary films.  Nothing worked.

            "He'll come when he wants to come," her mother said.

            "I wish he'd come now," Lily said, rubbing her tight stomach.  "I want to see him."

            "Oh, you will," she said.  She didn't realize the reality of those words.

            James came home very early.  He brought with him bags of food and desert.  They had a meal that was more like a feast, making both of them very tired.  James walked Lily to the bedroom, one arm around her shoulders.  He took off her sandals, which didn't match, and swung her legs into bed.  James crawled in beside her, tucking one arm under her and the other over her stomach.  "Sweet dreams Lily," he said.

            "Night," she said drearily.

            Lily slipped off into sleep in no time at all.  

            Suddenly, she felt a strange sensation, like she was walking.  Lily opened her eyes and saw thin, white mist, like fog, all around her.  She noticed that she could see her feet; she wasn't pregnant.  This was a dream, she thought.  She continued to walk through the fog, then began to hear faint noises, which turned into voices, young voices.  

            Lily found herself walking on a sidewalk.  To her left was a park where she heard many children playing.  Most of the park was draped in fog, but one small muddy hill was clearly visible, and on the top sat a young boy, not more than five years old, playing in the mud.  Lily walked closer to him; he was humming to himself.

            She quickened her pace when she noticed his black hair was standing in a very odd way.  She stood in front of him, then kneeled so she could see his face.

            Lily threw her hand to her open mouth to stop her gasp.  Sitting in front of her was not just a five year old with black hair...he looked just like James.  His face was thin for a kid his age, he wore round glasses, and he held his mouth just like James did when he was concentrating on something.  He clearly was not aware of her presence, for it was a dream after all, but that didn't stop her from exploring it.  Lily bent closer to him and passed her hand through his shiny hair, just as the wind blew.  Then he looked up, almost straight at her.

            "Green," she whispered, "they're green," she said, crying.  The eyes behind the round glasses were bright green, just like hers.  It was he.  Lily took both of her hands and started to pass them through his hair and down to the shoulders clothed in a baggy sweatshirt.  He didn't notice her touching him; he went back to humming and playing with his mud.

            "Harry!"a man yelled.

            The boy dropped his mud, looked to his left, then got up and ran into the mist.

            "No, wait!" Lily said, standing up straight and chasing after him.  "Wait!" she yelled.  But she was lost in the mist.  "Come back!"

            A wave of mild pain brought Lily back to her bedroom.  She opened her eyes and clutched her stomach.  Seconds later she felt wetness in between her legs.  Lily felt beside her and started to hit James.

            "Wh-what?" he asked.

            "It's time," she said, strangely calm.

            "What time?" he asked.

            "My water broke," she said.  "I'm going into labor."

            James leapt out of bed so fast that he slipped and fell out, bumping his head on the bed-stand.  "I'm okay!" he said as he stood back up.  He put his shoes on the wrong feet, pulled his pants on backwards, and completely forgot about his shirt.

            "Are you breathing?" he asked as he helped her out of bed.

            "Yep," she said, standing up and going for her handbag.  "Breathing."

            "Perfect, I'll go...tell Sirius!"

            "Whatever," Lily said, clutching her back as she waddled to her closet to put her robe on.  

            James dashed out of the bedroom, prodded Artemis out of her slumber, then sent a note to Sirius.  "Wake him up, girl," he said to his bird.  She screeched then flew out the window.  James ran back into his room.  Lily had her flip flops, her robe, and her handbag.

            "James," she said.  "Honey, I think you should take a look in the mirror before we go."

            "What?" James said looking at himself.  "Oh," he said.  He fixed everything then took her by the hand.  "Can you Apparate?" he asked.

            "Sure," she said just as calmly as ever.  "Diagon Alley Hospital?" 

            "Yeah."

            "See you there," she said with a smile.

            "We're having a baby," he said before kissing her.

            "Uh huh," she said, grinning.

Seconds later, they appeared at the Hospital.  "My wife's in labor!" James yelled to everyone who could hear.  

            Nurses rushed over to them and had Lily lay on a bed which they hovered away.  James started to go with her, but was stopped by the staff.

            "That's my wife having our baby!" he said to them.

            "Yes, we know.  You need to put this on before you can go in there," one of the nurses said, handing him some scrubs.

            "Okay," he said, putting them on with the nurse's assistance.  Once on, they walked him down to Lily's delivery room.  She was now on a bed, her legs up in stirrups.

            "How are you doing sweetie?" he asked, rushing to her side.

            "Good," she said.  

            "Can I get you anything?" he asked her, rubbing her head.

            "Um, some water would be good," she said smiling.

            There was a knocking on the open door, and the Obstetrician came in.  "I knew you'd be in here soon," he said to them.  "How you doing Lily?" he asked.

            "Good," she said.

            "That's great.  Let me look over here," he said, going over to her legs.  "You're fully dilated, Lily.  You'll be giving birth today."

            "It's about time," she sighed, taking James's hand.

            "Sure is.  This is what we're going to do.  First, we're going to give you a flushing potion so you'll expel all of your wastes, then we'll give you another potion, which will prevent you from having to dispose of them later when we'll have you push this baby out.  Is that clear?" he asked.

            "Yes," she said.

            "Your contractions are pretty far apart so you can relax for a while."

            "Thank you doctor," she said.  He left the room.  "Could you get me some water please?" 

            "Yes," James said, grinning from ear to ear.  He walked down the hall and stopped a nurse for a glass of water.  He was just about to take it to her when someone called his name.  James turned to see Sirius running down the hall, dressed in the same scrubs everyone else was wearing.

            "Sirius!" James said, hugging him.  "We're having a baby!"

            "I know you are!" Sirius said back.  "She's not having him yet though, right?"

            "No, but she's fully dilated and ready to go.  I'm taking water to her now," he said, showing Sirius the glass of water.  He walked back into the delivery room and gave Lily her water.

            "Those potions were disgusting," she said before drinking all of the water at once.  "Really disgusting stuff."

            "You're so brave," James said to her.

            "So are you," Lily said back.  She took his hand and started to smile at him, but then a new expression took over.  Lily's eyes bulged, her cheeks sucked insider her mouth, and she squeezed James's had so hard he could hear the bones popping.

            Then Lily screamed, shouted some words that are not appropriate for children under seventeen to hear, then fell back onto her bed, panting.

            The nurses ran back into the room and looked at her chart.  "You had a contraction," one of them said.

            "No shit Sherlock!" Lily yelled.

            "This isn't normal," the nurse said.

            "When were you born?!  My whole pregnancy isn't normal!"

            "I mean you shouldn't have had that contraction so soon."

            Lily grabbed the nurse by the collar and pulled her towards her.  "I," she started, "want pain killers."

            "We need to talk to the doctor about that," the nurse said.

            "If you don't get me my pain killers, you won't be talking to anyone ever again, is that clear? " Lily asked.

            "Sure," the nurse said, unfazed.

            "Good," Lily said, releasing her.  She laid her head back on her pillow, then started to take deep breaths.

            James started to breathe as the Lamaze class instructed.  "Breathe dear," he said to her.  "You've got to breathe."

            "I know," she said.

            "Breathe like they showed us, remember?"

            "Screw that class," Lily said.

            The doctor came back in with a long syringe.  

            "Bless you," Lily said.  "Will that stop the pain?  You know, I think you should give me more, because I'm in more pain than other women, and I've carried this baby longer than anyone has every carried a baby."

            "It'll help take the edge off," he said, injecting her with it.  

            "I love you," she whispered to the doctor, her face going into a smile.  "Bless you."

            "Change of plans," he said.  "Looks like he's coming sooner than I thought."

            No sooner had he said this, Lily had another contraction.  She tried not to scream so loud this time, but James could tell it was worse.  He couldn't feel his hand, but he could hear the bones cracking.

...Four hours later, James was feeding her ice chips and wiping her forehead with a damp cloth.  "You're so strong," he told her.

            "I think another one is coming," she said.  "I hate this," she said.

            "It's almost over," James told her.

            "I don't want to be pregnant anymore," she said, shaking her head.

            "You won't be," he said.

            "Ever again.  I know we said we wanted more than one, but this is too much," she said.  "Oh, it's coming."

            And even with the charms in the room and the pain-killing potion, Lily was in so much pain that she announced to all the nurses and the doctor that James's parents were never married.  None of them took it to heart, as it wasn't the first time she'd insulted him during her fit of pain.

            After she relaxed again, James pried his hand out of hers.

            "James," the doctor said, pulling him aside.  "Why don't you step out for a bit of fresh air, and come back in a minute or so?  She's almost ready to deliver, and I need you to be relaxed and set."

            "She doesn't really hate me, does she?" James asked.

            "No, all of them say that, trust me.  Go out into the lobby for a few minutes, alright?"

            James nodded and walked out into the lobby.  Remus, Peter, Jade, Liz, Sonja, Mrs. and Mr. Evans, and Mr. and Mrs. Black were all there.

            They all surrounded him in a second.

            "She's almost ready," James said.  "I've gotta go back in a little bit."

            "How is she?" her father asked.

            "She's...in pain," James said.

            "How far apart are the contractions?" he asked.            

            "They're almost constant.  I think I should get back, I don't want to miss it."  They didn't keep him.  Sirius had been standing behind him the entire time, patted him on the back, and sent him back into the delivery room.

            "James," the doctor said, "perfect timing.  I need you to help her breathe."

            James sat next to her, took her hand, and coached her in Lamaze, which she did along with him.

            "Lily," the doctor said as he sat in front of her spread legs, "I'm going to ask you to push as hard as you can, alright?"

            "Okay," Lily whispered with effort.

            "On the count of three, push as hard as you can and don't stop.  One," he said, Lily clutched James's hand, "two," James started to feel light headed, "three.  PUSH!" he yelled.    

            Lily bore down as hard as she could, her eyes tightening as her hands gripped on the hands she held.  The candles in the room flickered as Lily threw off magic.

            "Keep pushing!" the doctor yelled.

            It was hard and energy draining, but Lily pushed with all her power.  It felt better to push, but she couldn't keep it up for much longer.

            "Come on Lily, push!" the doctor yelled.

            "You can do it, sweetheart," James said.  

            "I can see the head," the doctor said.  "Keep pushing, you're almost there!"

            Lily pushed one last time, then the pain vanished from her body, and she relaxed.

            "Awa!" she heard.  "Awa!  Awa!"  They heard the snipping of scissors, they saw the doctor whisk something away.  Neither of them could see the baby yet, however, because the nurses were cleaning him and clearing his nose and throat, but they could hear him cry.

            "Congratulations," the doctor said, moving to them with a bundle cradled in his arms, "you have a healthy baby boy."  He bent down and gave the baby to Lily to hold; he had stopped crying.

            He was very small, especially his hands and fingers.  His head was wet and sticky looking.  His skin was still bluish in color, which was normal, his hair was slimy, and his cheeks were fat.  "Hello," Lily whispered to him, her face breaking into a wide grin. 

            James leaned on the bed and laid his hand on his son's head.  "Hello," James said, rubbing the soft cheek with his thumb.  "I'm your father," he said.

            Lily laughed, but didn't take her eyes off of her baby, whose eyes had just opened.

            "So you're the overactive little man," she said to him.  His skin slowly started to turn pink, his eyes were dark gray, and his hair was drying.  He opened his mouth as he looked at his mother and made small murmuring sounds.

            "He's talking to us," James said.

            The doctor came up to them with a clipboard and a quill.

            "Do you have a name?" he asked.

            Lily heard James give a small sigh.  She looked away from the baby for the first time, and caught her husband's eye.  "How about Harry?" she asked.

            James considered it for a moment, looked back to his newborn son, then smiled.  "Yeah," he said, "I like that."  

            Lily kissed James, then gazed down at her baby.  "Then Harry it is.  Harry James Potter."

            The doctor scribbled the name down on the form, then had a nurse fill out the name on a small band which would go around Harry's wee wrist.

            "He's so beautiful," James said, touching Harry's hand.  

            Harry gripped his father's pinky finger; his hand was so teeny that it barely covered half of James's smallest finger.

            "He's got a very firm grip," James said.

            Lily giggled.  She looked from Harry to James, then smiled.  "You hold him now," she said, passing Harry to him.

            James picked him up and cradled him in his arms.  "Hey Harry," he said softly, swaying him back and forth.  "He's so beautiful," James said again.  "I think he's smiling, Lily, look."  He sat down next to his wife and rested Harry on her stomach.

            "He is!" Lily said.

            In fact he wasn't.  Newborns cannot smile or make any real facial expression for a month or so, but try telling that to two new parents.  After Lily and James fawned over Harry, the doctor said they'd have to take him for a while and take his weight, check him over, just routine stuff.  He also told Lily it would be beneficial for her to take a shower and rest for a while.

            Needless to say, Lily didn't want to do any of that.  She insisted that the doctors weigh Harry with some kind of spell and said she felt fine and wide awake; she didn't want to put him down.  The doctor promised he'd have Harry back in fifteen minutes at the most.  James said that would be fine then he took Harry from a complaining Lily.

            "You can have him back in no time," the doctor said.

            "How 'bout now?" Lily said, trying to sit up and walk after him.  James held her back.

            "No, I need to check and see how you're doing first.  You've already had the afterbirth, that's good, but I still need to check blood pressure and all that boring nonsense," he said, walking over to her.

            Lily found no benefit in protesting, so she didn't.  Instead she looked down at her stomach and started pulling at her loose skin.

            "Why am I still fat?" Lily asked the doctor.

            "It's going to take a while for your body to return to normal after all you've been through.  Your son looked to be seven or eight pounds but you gained more than that during the pregnancy.  Also, you're breasts will swell quite a bit."

            "They've been swelling the entire time," Lily said.  "They're going to get bigger?"

            "Yes because you'll be using them for their correct purpose; feeding your baby."

            "Lily," James said, "I'm going to go into the lobby and spread the news."

            "Okay dad," she said smiling.

            "We have a baby," James said.  Lily grinned at him, then he ran out of the delivery room, down the hallway, and into the lobby where he threw his hands up in the air like an Olympian.  

            The group of his friends, who had been seated nervously on one of the couches, jumped up and hugged him all at once.  They all broke into questions, but because they were talking over each other, James couldn't understand them.  He didn't know why all of them were grinning at him as they asked about the baby, but he didn't realize that he was wearing the biggest smile he'd had in his life.

            "Details," Jade said, "we need details, James."

            "They just took him away for some routine checks and all that.  He's perfect," James said breathlessly.

            "And the name?" Remus asked.

            "We got one.  Harry."

            "Awww," they all said, even Sirius didn't have a comeback.  "That is so cute," Jade said.

            "Lily suggested it when the doctor asked for a name, and we both liked it.  He looks like a Harry," James said.

            "When do we get to see him?" Sirius asked.

            "I think very soon.  After they check on everything they'll put him in that room," James said, pointing to a glassed window room where there were already several newborns.  "We could go over now," James suggested, walking towards the glass.

            Everyone followed him.  "He's not in there yet, but— wait, she's bringing him," James said as he pointed to a round nurse with a friendly face.  She walked up to the glass and showed Harry to all of them.  Harry's eyes were half open at the moment.

            "Awww," they all said again, smashing their faces against the glass so they could get a better look.  "He's so cute!" Jade said.  

            "He looks like you," Mrs. Evans said to James.

            "He'll be a chick magnet then," James said.

            "He's your son, James, not mine," said Sirius.  Everyone laughed.

            "Hello little Harry," Jade said as she waved her finger to him.  "I want to hold him."

            "He's a lot better looking than the other babies," Sirius said.

            "Of course," James said.  

            "He's done being looked over?" Lily said as she came over and stood next to James.

            "You're done taking a shower and being examined?" James asked.

            "Yep.  Well he sure is a cute baby," Lily said pointing to Harry through the window.  "His parents must be extremely good looking."

            James chuckled, then pulled her close to him.  "Can you believe all of this?" he asked.

            "Yes, it was very painful.  But I know what you mean.  Do you feel different?" she asked.

            "Yeah.  You?"

            "Complete," she answered, snuggling up to him as she stared at Harry.

Minerva McGonagall opened her window that morning to let the sun pour inside.  An owl swooped in not long after, carrying a brief note.

            She untied it and read it out loud to herself.  "Harry James Potter was born today at 4:13 a.m. weighing seven pounds, five ounces, to Lily and James Potter.  His birth has been recorded in the Hogwarts Acceptance Volume."

            Minerva smiled and wiped a small tear from her eye.  She then sat down at her desk, pulled out several pieces of parchment, and informed Albus Dumbledore and Hagrid about Harry's admittance into their school in eleven years.  "Harry Potter is in our book," she simply wrote.  "Another generation has begun."

Events such as these leave an impression on everyone.  James, Lily, Sirius, and others were euphoric.  Minerva McGonagall, Albus Dumbledore, and Hagrid wished to see the young Potter very soon.  Mr. and Mrs. Evans were, again, flushed with pride a joy.  

            And while many of them suspected that Harry had been added to the countless other names in the Hogwarts Acceptance Volume, they were all, even the wisest among them, unaware that Harry's name had been recorded in another book...

Remember: If you're going to tell me that the relationship was "cliché, disappointing, horrible, uncreative, boring" I will delete it of block you.  I have to defend myself.


	29. Growing Up

***The Marauder Chronicles; the End of Innocence, is a fan fiction.  Events are not to be taken as true to those leading up to the Harry Potter series.  Some characters and locations belong to J.K. Rowling, while others belong to me.  No copyright infringement is intended.  This story is not to be replicated or sold.***

Note: I am introducing something at the end.  No, I don't know what it entails.  My editor believes I am setting myself up for contradiction, but I'm taking the risk.  I am planning on finishing this thing before OoTP, so it won' t matter anyway.  If I'm wrong (highly likely) please don't flood my inbox telling me I'm wrong after the 21st.  This story is full of my _theories.  _If I were certain about things, I would send it off to JK and tell her I'll spread the word unless she gives me the books.  Wouldn't that be nice?   Also, the ending of this story is coming soon and it's going to be devastatingly sad, so be ready for that.  If you haven't already done so, please swing by my other fan fiction, "The Human Condition."  Here's the chapter, hope you like it.

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Six: Growing up

The apartment door swung open, and its first enterer walked in backwards, a camera to his eye.  He was giving instructions to someone who had not yet walked into the camera's view.

            "Are you ready?" Lily asked from behind the wall.

            "Yes.  Come ahead," James said.

            Lily walked inside.  Small Harry was tucked safely away in her arms, watching her face with wide eyes.

            "This is our home," James said, zooming in on his son.

            "He looks overwhelmed," Lily said. And truth be told, he looked a little unsure of all of this.  Though his head didn't move much, his eyes were darting all over the place, but they always came back to Lily.  "It's big isn't it?" she said to him.

            "Let's give him a tour of the place," James suggested, still walking backwards through the house.

            "This is the dining room," Lily said, showing Harry the table, "and the kitchen."

            "And this is where you were created," James said as he filmed the bedroom; Lily rolled her eyes and took him back out into the living room, where she sat with him on the couch.  "Daddy's silly," she said with a grin to Harry, who stared.

            "When did your parents say they were coming over?" James asked as he took one last shot of Harry before putting the camera down.

            "Some time this afternoon.  And Jade and Sirius are coming earlier, right?"

            "Something like that.  It's important that we space all these people out so he doesn't go crazy with all the attention he'll be getting," James said, taking a spot next to Lily.  "Are his eyes always going to be that color?"

            Lily shook her head.  "No, they'll change over a few months or so, maybe less than that.  All babies are born with this blue-gray color, aren't they?" she said, kissing Harry's small head.  "Yes they are," she said, kissing him again.  "Oh you smell so good, yes you do," she continued.

            James laughed.  "I suppose you won't be putting him down for a nap anytime soon?"

            "Not for a while," Lily told him in the same sweet tone.  James bent his head down and kissed Harry then Lily before going into the kitchen to get drinks.

*   *   *   *   *

Ashika Narayan walked up the stairs to her room, which was above her office.  Everyone in the Bureau suspected, but no one actually knew, that she lived here.  It wasn't a large place to live, but she was happy with it, as happy as she ever could be.  The main room was elliptical in shape, with a deep crimson red carpet, dull yellow candlelight, and bookshelves lining every wall.  But despite all the shelves, there wasn't enough room for all the books, for at least a hundred were littered all over the floor in untidy stacks.

            Ashika waved her left hand casually and classical music began to play from magical, invisible speakers set up around the room.  She strode over to her large desk, sat down, and put her feet up.

            "Screen," she said, folding her hands on the back of her head.  Instantly a large screen appeared just above her desk.  "England."  A simulation map appeared, showing icons on different parts of the country— places where they had camera surveillance.  "Birmingham," she said, and again the screen popped up with a simulated map showing Birmingham.  "The Potter's apartment."

            And, as requested, Lily and James's building appeared.  Then the screen automatically zoomed to one of their windows.  Ashika took her feet off her desk and pulled closer.  She lifted the right corner of her mouth as she stared.

            "Hello Harry," she said.  

            The screen showed several people, but they were all focused on Harry, who was sleeping for the time being.  Lily was still holding him, but what looked to be a friend of hers was touching him in a way that said, "I really want to hold him."

            "Identify," she said.  A rectangular section emerged inside the view screen.  It showed: "Yang, Jade.  Analyst, History and Intelligence Dept. Ministry of Magic;" there followed a list of reports she'd published, etc.  "Ah, Miss Yang, nice to see you again," Ashika said, taking a sip of her earl grey.  "And Sirius, you're looking uncomfortable.  Audio," she said.  She could then hear their voices.

            But she didn't know why she selected to hear them, for that wasn't what she desired.  Still, it proved quite entertaining.  Sirius stood with his arms crossed, but he kept edging nearer to Harry; Jade couldn't get close enough to the baby; James stood behind Lily with his arms around her waist, and Lily was cradling her son.  Everyone spoke in soothing tones, making it difficult to hear.

            "My, we are protective," Ashika said, watching Lily's unwillingness to hand Harry over to anyone.  "So how are you going to continue school?  This is going to be interesting.  Zoom," she said.  The screen then focused on young Harry, whose eyes were shut.  "Analyze," she commanded.

            Several different things happened then.  First, a second screen appeared to the right of its counterpart.  It filled with number charts: blood type, genetic codes; then a third screen materialized to the left of the center screen.  It showed Harry's name, then branched off to show James's name and the names of his parents.  

            Ashika examined the numbered display first.  She tapped her fingers on her desk then pursed her lips.  "Compile abilities based on genetics," she said to it.  She looked to her display to the far left where a family tree was in progress; Byron Potter and Samantha Kintz were awaiting instruction.  "Show me the Potter line first," she said, and immediately names started to branch off of Byron's quite rapidly.

            She finished her tea as the genetic analysis was complete.  A list of his eventual physical traits was listed, as well as several abilities he might possess if he was subject to certain conditions.  "Hello," she said as she drew closer.  Listed was an assortment of talents based primarily on his parentage.  "You have more than mommy's eyes...isn't that fascinating," but it wasn't a rhetorical question to herself.

            There was a loud beeping sound to her left; the family line was complete, or so it seemed.  Ashika frowned as she examined it.

            It read, "Error," then listed just one name, a female, at the top of the tree, but no male was listed as her mate.  "Eva Rochelle" stood alone with her daughter starting what would eventually become the Potter family.           

            "Give me the biographical information on Eva Rochelle," Ashika said.

            "Unable to comply," a voice said back.

            "Why not?" she asked with an edge in her tone.

            "Identity unknown."

            "What do you mean the identity is unknown?  She's right in front of me!  Fine, list Eva Rochelle's school records."

            "Unable to comply."

            "Is there an Eva Rochelle?" she asked.

            "Affirmative.  Eva Rochelle was born on April 28, 968."

            "Where did she attend school?" Ashika asked.

            "Unknown."

            "How is that possible?" she asked.

            "Records are unavailable."

            "If she was born, then she must have records somewhere," she said to herself.  "Where did she live?  Who were her parents?"

            "Unable to comply."

            Ashika slammed her fists on the desk and gritted her teeth.  "How were the records deleted?  It's impossible to delete records so where are they?"

            The screen went blank but was definitely doing something.  "Records were moved February 10, 1002.  Location unknown."

            She drummed her fingers, and tapped her feet.  "Is there anything significant to that date?" she asked. 

            "Please specify," the voice said back. 

            "What events happened on February 10, 1002?"

            Again the screen went blank.  "The Peace Treaty between the Warlock Convention and the Federation of Goblins was signed in London, England.  Sir Thomas Marx, first knighted wizard, was arrested for the possession and breeding of dragons without a license.  Beauxbatons Magical Academy hired new staff."

            "Dead end," she mumbled.  "Who are you Eva?"

*   *    *    *    *

The fifth of August, in the year nineteen hundred and eighty proved to be a rather warm day, with temperatures reaching into the mid eighties, which was high for England.  Still, the hot climate did not hinder human activity.

            Remus spent his day off with Sonja in Scotland, where her sister lived.  She wasn't as extreme as Sonja was, but she was just as friendly.  Remus enjoyed her company, but he soon felt like a third wheel when the two started giggling about past boyfriends.

            Peter spent his day furniture shopping with his mother, though he didn't know why he was there...she was doing all the ordering.  But it eventually got done, and at the end of the day he had some seriously repulsive pieces.

            Jade spent the morning in her art studio, a converted room in her small apartment, drawing on large slabs of paper with charcoal sticks.  Somehow a lot of the charcoal was smeared all over her increasingly sweaty face and on her fingers.  She abandoned the project in the afternoon to go to the pool and tan.

            Sirius took his motorcycle to a garage where he attempted to look like someone who knew what he was doing...though he really didn't.  He was able, however, to attract some female attention, probably due to his oil-stained tank-top, which showed his flexing biceps.  Several women walked by and admired his bike, but secretly, or not so secretly, admired his chiseled physique.  Incidentally, he scored three dates.

            And while most people that were on vacation were out in the sun enjoying the weather and having a good time, James and Lily spent all day inside.  Harry was mostly quiet for the time being, sleeping, but there were moments when both Lily and James could swear their spines had exploded.  Granted he didn't cry as often as they assumed he would, but when he did they would race to the nursery, not only to see what was wrong, but also to stop that crying.

            "This isn't bad at all," James said sarcastically as he looked at Harry. "How long is he going to scream like this?"

            Lily, who was jiggling Harry against her chest trying to calm him down, shook her head.  "Mum says a good four to five weeks.  But," she almost yelled, "he hardly ever does this.  He sleeps twenty hours a day."

            "It's a sound I don't wish to hear."

            "Too bad, this is what babies are all about.  I only wish I knew what he needs," she said, her face splashed with apprehension.  "I just fed him and he's dry.  God, do you think it's something I ate and now he can't handle it?  Is that what's wrong?" she asked Harry.

            He answered with more crying.

            "Shhhh," she said, patting his back.  "It's okay."

            "Let me try something," James said desperately.  Lily handed him over.  James lifted Harry into the air and started blowing in his face.  Lily was just about to tell him off, when Harry got quiet.  "Weird," James said.

            "Don't stop, though," Lily whispered.  "Keep doing it.  Make him go to sleep."  Harry didn't fall asleep right away, but he didn't cry again.  James had unlocked the secret, however, and he was quite pleased with himself.

            Several hours later, Jade, who seemed to be a frequent visitor now, came by.  She gave a quick greeting to James and Lily, but went straight for Harry, who was lying in the bassinet, awake but silent.

            "Hello Harry," she said in a soft, sweet tone.  "How's my favorite baby?"

            "He's been driving us crazy, but he just ate and probably needs to be burped.  Would auntie Jade like to burp him?"

            Jade's face lit up like a bon fire.  She didn't hesitate with the offer.  She hoisted Harry into the air, then held him to her chest.  "Oh he's so small," she said.  "I want him."

            "Sorry," James said, "you can't.  No amount of crying will ever get you that."

            Having herself somewhat freed, Lily walked into the kitchen and had her lunch, which had been prepared hours before.  She kept constant watch on Jade and Harry, however, who was ready to doze off again.

            "He looks like James," Jade said.  Harry looked up at her with droopy eyes, his breathing a little raspy.  "Sounds like him too.  Kidding," she said with a quick glance, though Lily winked to her.  "His hair's lying down flat, though."

            Lily swallowed a rather large bite.  "That's due to change, I'm sure."  After she wolfed down her sandwich in seconds, Lily informed them all that she was heading to bed for a nap.  James gave her a short kiss before she departed.

            "Power draining?" Jade asked him.

            "Well, yeah.  She's breast feeding, and I guess that's taking a lot of energy out of her.  Plus, she's doing all of these exercises so she can get back to her normal weight."

            "Yeah that would do it.  Women burn about 1,500 calories a day when breast feeding."

            "You know a lot about this kind of thing, don't you?" James asked her.

            She smiled then started to rock Harry back and forth.  "He's very cute for this age.  From the newborns I've seen, he's the best looking."

            "I'm sure he'll get over it," James replied.  "How's your job working out?"

            "Good, actually.  I've been writing so much lately, mostly reports, but it's rumored that I might get a promotion."

            "That's great!" James said.

            "Yeah it is.  But it's still only rumored.  Keep your fingers crossed.  If I get it then I'll get a really nice pay raise.  I'll be able to start saving for retirement."

            "Retirement?  Aren't you twenty years old?"

            "Yes, but it's never too early to start thinking about the future."

            "Right," James said, nodding his head.  He was going to ask about what kind of art she was working on, but Sirius was announced at the door.  James looked to Jade quickly and saw that she moved to the couch with Harry.  He let Sirius in.

            "Howdy," he said.  He looked a bit tan, especially when he wore his white tank top.

            "What's up?"

            "Oh just single stuff.  It's a pity you're married, James, because I landed three great looking women earlier this week."

            "Uh huh," James said, throwing Sirius a drink.

            "It's true.  I'm booked next week and the week after next, so don't ask me to go anywhere with you when you want to get away from the little woman."

            James chuckled.  "Are they smart?"

            "I have no idea, but I do know that they'll look great in a bikini."

            "That is the best recipe for loneliness I've ever heard," James commented.  "It's never too early to start thinking about the future, Sirius, and I know that one day you'll want to settle down and get married."

            Sirius stared at him then burst out laughing.  "Jade must come here a lot if you're talking like that.  She always spewed that information whenever she had the chance.  She'd just sit there and go on and on about saving money, and making babies, and getting married...yeah, you're sounding just like her my friend.  Be careful or you'll nag me to death and scare me away, too."  He enjoyed the sound of his own laughter for a very short time until he noticed James's blank expression.

            "What's the matter?" Sirius asked.

            "Is that what you think about my life?" he asked.  "Do you really think I'm a fool, Sirius?"

            He stopped grinning and set his drink back down on the counter.  "No."

            "No?  There will come a time in your life when you just might regret some of the things you've done.  Hot women in bikinis will make you happy to a point, but only for a short while.  If I've said it once I've said it one thousand times; you're a smart person, and you should see smart women.  Do you think you'll spend forever chasing skirts, or are you going to do something meaningful with your personal life?"

            Sirius stared at him with shock and awe.  "I don't know, I guess."

            "You know," James started, a funny sort of expression on his face, "I was real sorry when you lost Jade.  She loved you, she was leading you down a good path, she made you happy, she's smart, she's attractive, and she's very traditional.  There aren't very many women like her, not anymore at least.  Try asking other men what they want in a woman, and they'll describe someone like her.  She wanted happiness, marriage, children, all with you, more than she wanted any job.  Try finding someone else like that in a few years when you discover that you want to marry a woman like her.  These girls you've got dates with, they probably saw what most women see when they look at you: good looks, quick smile, verbal repartee...don't you think there's more to you than all of that?  I know there is.  It's a pity that you haven't figured that out."  James shook his head then left the kitchen for the living room.

            Sirius stared at the wall opposite him and let what his best friend said wash over him.  But then he heard James speak again.

            "I don't actually know.  They should be under the changing table unless we've run out already."

            "I'll go check for them," Jade said.  Sirius felt his stomach turn.  Had she heard the conversation they had just had?  Sirius got off of the stool and walked into the living room to find James following Jade into the nursery.  "Ah, wait," Jade said as she looked into the closet, "you've got extra in here.  You've never done this, have you?"

            "Nope," James said with a hint of glee.  "Don't have to."

            "I wondered if you'd remember that," she said.

            Sirius walked slowly into the doorway.  "Remembered what?" he asked.

            Jade turned around to see him, but didn't look surprised by his presence.  James wheeled around.  

            "Our little bet we placed two years ago," he said smirking.  "I won so I'm off diaper duty for three months."       

            "Oh, that," he said.  "Lily was gracious about it?"

            "No, but I didn't hesitate to point out that she would have made me go through with my end of the bargain if Harry had been Harriet."

            "It's a good thing you won," Sirius said.

            "I knew I would."

            "Changing isn't that big of a deal, you know," Jade said as she took off the very poopy diaper and threw it in the diaper bin.  "It doesn't smell."

            "Lily doesn't complain about the smell," James said.  "She complains about number one."

            "Why?" Jade asked, but at that very moment, she found out why.  As she put baby powder on Harry's small behind, a warm spout of urine shot up and hit her neck.  James and Sirius couldn't stop themselves from laughing as Jade's face changed from a loving expression to one of revulsion.

            "He peed on me!" she said, pulling her shirt away from her skin.

            "What's so funny?" Lily asked as she shuffled over to them.  "Why's everyone laughing so loud?"

            "Your son took dump on my shirt," Jade said.  Harry, however, was now moving his legs every which direction; the fresh diaper on the floor.

            "Oh," Lily said, not sounding at all surprised.  "Go into my closet and change shirts.  Did you pee pee on auntie Jade?" Lily asked Harry as she fastened a diaper on him.  "Did you?"

            "He's a good shot," Sirius said.

            "Yeah he is," Lily said.  She hoisted him back into the air and handed him to James.  "I'm sure he'll get you someday, Sirius."

            "I'm not changing him," he said.

            "Aren't you the godfather?" she asked.

            "...Yes."

            "Aren't you going to want to learn how to do some of the simple things?"

            "Do I?" he asked.

            "Yes," she said for him.  "I'm going back into our room to try sleeping again.  Try to keep it down, boys," she said before leaving.

            "Is this okay?" Jade asked, showing Lily a plain t-shirt.

            "That's fine," Lily yawned.  She flopped herself down on the bed and shut her eyes.

            "Lily," Jade said, sitting down, "you know that if you ever want help with him, you can call me whenever."

            Lily smiled but kept her eyes closed.  "I know," she sighed, "I don't need help right now, that's all.  I'm good..." she faded off then started breathing heavily.

            "You're not already asleep, are you?" Jade asked.  But Lily had fallen asleep, for now she was snoring.  "Okay," Jade said then took her leave.  She heard James and Sirius talking in the same tone they were using minutes ago, but she didn't strain to hear what they were saying.  Instead she walked back into the nursery to say her goodbyes.

            "Hey," she said, kissing Harry, "if you ever need a sitter, owl me," she said to James.  "I'll wear urine proof clothes next time."

            "I'm sure there's some kind of charm you can use to...prevent stains," James said uncertainly.

            "I'll look, but in the mean time I'll just try to steer clear of Ol' Faithful.  I'll see you later, James, take good care of them."

            "Always," he said.  "See ya."

            Jade left with a last wave.  They could hear the door shutting as she departed. 

            "No, there wasn't any tension there," Sirius said sarcastically.  "I had no idea she was in here when you gave me your...lecture.  And what was that about anyway?"

            "Don't play dumb, Sirius," James said.  

            Sirius raised his eyebrows at James then made a choking sound.  "What has gotten into you?" he asked.  "Huh?  I mean suddenly you've become...you sound like my father or something.  You can't tell me how to live my life, James."

            "I'm not," James replied.  

            "What do you call it, then?  Why do you care if I actually have fun on a Friday night?"

            "What's that supposed to mean?"

            "Please," Sirius said, a little more irritable than he would have liked to sound.  "Look at you, James.  You're twenty years old, and you're tied down by not only your wife who demands personal gratification over your needs and wants, but you also now have a second chain," he said, signaling to Harry who was falling asleep in his father's arms.  "He's going to demand ten times the amount Lily will, and he won't do it on purpose.  You're twenty, and you can't think about yourself anymore.  Twenty.  I find no credibility for you to tell me about lifestyles when your idea of a good time is going to work to get away from your family."

            "That is not true," James said sternly.

            "What part?" Sirius asked.

            James hesitated.  Sirius closed the door to the nursery.  "How's your marriage, James, and I mean really?  Because the both of you are great at putting up these facades of happiness when you're around people, but let's break down for a second, since we're being honest with each other.  We're friends, right?  I mean you and I have been friends since before Jesus was born, so let's talk.  How's your marriage?"

            "Fine," he answered.

            "Really?  It's fine, just fine?  You've been married for two years and already it's fine?"

            "What do you know about a real commitment?"

            "No, no, no," Sirius said, grinning and shaking his head, "don't turn this around on me.  We're talking about you and Lily, not me.  We'll get there eventually, but let's play with one ball right now.  I have no doubt that you love her, okay, I've known that for years.  You have kissed the ground she walks on, given her everything, and hey, if it works for you then that's great.  But what has she given back?  That's what marriage is, right, give and take?  I'm seeing you give everything, a home, your love, your support, your patience, all your free time, your blessings for her schooling, a job that you say you didn't really want though I still have to wonder, and your soul.  And if it's going both ways, then I will admit that I am wrong and walk out that door as happy as I came in, but I don't think I am."

            James stared at him, an uncomfortable feeling welling up in his stomach.

            "What has she given you?" Sirius asked again.  "And don't get me wrong, okay, she's a good woman, and I consider her to be one of my best friends, but sometimes it's like she's treating you like a doormat, James.  So what has she done for you?"

            James opened his mouth to say something, but either the words got lost on their way up, or he didn't have a response.  He attempted to speak several times, but eventually he sighed and rolled his eyes.

            "Why are you doing this?" James asked, as he laid Harry back down in his crib.  "It's not always about me, Sirius."

            "No, I know that.  Ever since you hooked up with her, it's never been about you, always her.  You do what she wants you to do no matter what the price, and when you don't she hits you where it hurts.  I don't think she does it on purpose.  I think she's used to getting everything she wants.  But you have to take control at some point or you'll go insane.  I know I'm not an expert on marriage, and I'm not pretending to be, but the way this thing is going...she's taken total control.  I admit that the woman does seem to have the upper hand in many marriages, my parents and yours were the same way, but that doesn't mean she can treat you like this.  You're still part of the puzzle.  Every once in a while you've got to ask yourself what you want, not what would make her happy.  Because if you're not happy, she won't be, and he won't be," he said, pointing to Harry, "and you'll end up divorced with weekend custody of your toddler."

            James crossed his arms then started to pace.

            "I am serious, man, you have got to put your foot down for once.  Tell her no.  I know that deep down in that place where that rage comes from you want to say it.  I've seen you be assertive with people, so I know you can do it.  You have promised your life to her, and she has to you, so you owe it to the both of you to be honest with each other, or you'll ruin everything for your kid.  Stop thinking about her for a moment and start thinking about Harry.  Lily can take care of Lily, but he can't take care of himself, and he needs both of his parents to get their marriage in place before they can take good care of him."

            "There is nothing wrong with my marriage," James said through gritted teeth.

            "There isn't?  Tell me, _friend_, is Lily going back to school in a few weeks?"

            "Yes."

            "She is?  She's got a newborn son and she's leaving him with you so she can go be a doctor and continue the same absence she's been practicing for two years.  Isn't the third year the most time consuming?  Dammit, this is only med 'school,' she's not even a doctor yet.  Tell me with all honesty that you want her to do this."

            He didn't know why he was getting angry, he didn't want to be angry, but the way Sirius was saying everything...

            "I want her to be happy!" James nearly yelled.  "You can't understand anything about love—"

            "Do you want her to leave you and Harry so she can be a doctor and be happy?" Sirius continued, seemingly ignoring James's statement.  "Will her being gone all the time, learning how to take care of other people other than you, her husband, and Harry, her son, make you happy?  I mean honestly, James, she's not here to dictate to you, would you be happy knowing that your son is growing up without the care of his mother because she wants to be a doctor and take care of strangers?  And what about you?  You married her, and she married you.  She has obligations to you!  She has to make you as happy as you're making her!  And from what I've seen it hasn't been that way.  Has it?" he asked.

            James passed a shaking hand through his hair and turned his back on Sirius.

            "Tell me, James, tell me as a friend.  Yes or no, do you want her, do _you_ want her to finish school so she can be the wonderful doctor instead of a good parent and spouse?"

            After several seconds of hesitation, Sirius heard James whisper "No."

            Sirius sighed then nodded to himself.  "Then why don't you tell her?" he asked.

            "It's not that simple," James said, turning around to face him.  "She's wanted this for a long time, and I would be the one saying she can't have it."

            "Pardon my bluntness and semblance to sounding like my father or yours, but she should have thought about that before she said 'I do.'  If she had really wanted it that badly, she should have held off marriage until she got it.  You know when you were telling me about Jade, I couldn't help but sense that you really want someone like her.  She could have married that young and been okay with it because she doesn't have driving ambitions to be the greatest doctor who ever lived.  Jade wants to be married and make babies, but Lily doesn't, when it comes right down to it, does she?"

            "I...she..."

            "She loves you, and I have no doubt that she loves Harry...now.  I'm an analyst for the Bureau, James, remember that.  I'm one of the best, and I'm getting used to reading people.  You and she are the type of people to declare you've created life to the world, but you didn't.  When you got down on one knee in a train station, she said yes then announced that she was getting married, as if we didn't see it!  She wasn't happy about being pregnant.  She didn't want the baby; she wanted to have a career.  Frankly, I'm surprised you took it so well.  You were dazzled with the news, you were blissfully happy about it, but she wasn't.  Red flag.  Wake up, James."

            "Why should I take anything you say into account?  You're acting like some sort of counselor, or a wacked therapist!  You're not an expert on this kind of thing.  No, I don't want her to finish that damn school.  Yes, I want Harry to have his mother around.  Do you think I choose to be placed in this kind of arena?  I have Lily on one end, now Harry on the other.  Why should I take anything you say seriously?  You don't have a wife, you don't have a child, and the closest you got to any of that is by looking at us being married and having a child.  You want to talk about not being credible, let's talk about you.  You're talking to me about commitment and happiness?  Are you happy, Sirius?  When you look into the mirror at your handsome face, do you see a happy man?  Do you think, God I'm lucky to have what I have, or do you wonder what else is out there for you?"

            Sirius moved his hand over his mouth then leaned against the door.  "I am happy.  I'm being honest with you.  I do what I want to do when I want to do it.  I have a good job.  I have great friends, a supportive family, talents, and a motorcycle.  So I don't have the perfect woman right now, big deal.  When I'm ready for her I'm sure she'll come along.  I'm not going to rush into marriage and family because I'm not ready for it, and I don't want it right now.  I'm happy, yes.  I see what I have and I do thank God that I have it.  What else could a guy want from life?  Different people want different things.  That's the way the world works.  You wanted to get married so you did it.  You wanted kids, so you started that, sooner than you would have liked, but now you have one.  All I'm trying to say is, are you getting from Lily what you want, like she's getting from you?  This discussion comes right down to that, James, that's it.  She's a gorgeous woman, the prettiest I've ever seen, there's no denying it because it's true.  You married the most beautiful woman on the face of the earth, and everyone knows it.  She's got her heart in the right place, according to her, most of the time.  She wants to be a doctor to save lives, she's kind to Slytherins, she's opened her home to anyone who wants to come.  She needs some direction though, and you're the only one who can give it to her.  She needs to make you happy, and she needs to make Harry happy.  The both of you come before this medical school.  She came before your Quidditch position and even your offer at the Bureau.  It has to go both ways.  That's what's fair."

            Sirius shoved his hands in his pockets and curtly nodded his head.  By some miracle Harry hadn't fluttered an eyelash during the entire conversation, though both of their voices had risen many times.

            James's eyes took on several shapes, but not as many as his mouth.  The corners came up, went down, alternated, thinned.  After sighing with exasperation numerous times, taking his hands off his hips then putting them back, attempting to start the conversation again, and running his hands nervously through his hair so much that it actually showed, James slumped down to the floor, his head against the wall.

            "What are you thinking?" Sirius asked, taking seat on the wall opposite James.

            James shook his head and shut his eyes.  "I don't know."

            "You're half of this.  You deserve fifty percent of everything.  But you don't have it right now."

            "I get you Sirius," he said snidely.  "I get your point."

            "Good, because I would hate to waste all that wisdom on someone who didn't grasp the concept."

            James started to knead his temple with his knuckles.

            "I think you need to get out and think.  I mean really get out and think.  Go somewhere, away from everyone, and just think about it.  I'll take care of the kid-o and tell Lily you went out real quick to clear your head.  The little stars on the diaper, that means the front side, right?"

            James nodded.

            "See, piece of cake.  And I won't let him pee on me.  So go, just go and clear that head of yours, and come back with some kind of resolution to all of this, okay?"

            James stared at him, looked into the crib, then back to Sirius.  "You sure you can handle it?"

            "No problem.  I've seen you guys do this baby thing, like you said, and that's good enough for me.  Besides, I was a baby so I sort of have special background information."

            James smirked.  "Okay, this is a pacifier which hasn't worked for us yet but that doesn't mean we're not trying.  If he starts crying just give it to him.  If he spits it out, then don't give it back.  And he likes to be bounced up and down a little and having air blown in his face.  I don't know why, so don't ask, but support his head okay?"

            "Got it.  Now get out of here."

            "If he's dry and he's still crying his head off after five minutes or so after the bobbing up and down and the air blowing thing, he's probably hungry.  Then you'll have to wake Lily.  She's the only one that can address that problem."

            "It's noticeable," Sirius said.  "Now go!  Go get your Nimbus and fly around the city or something.  Just go before I kick you out."

            "Don't try to be a stubborn hero.  If you need help, get Lily."

            "It's like you don't trust me, James.   Just go and I'll take perfect care of the kid.  Go before I punch you."  He pointed to the door and raised his eyebrows.

            James walked backwards out of the nursery, and soon Sirius heard the door to the apartment open and shut.

            "Your father is the craziest man I've ever met," Sirius said as he looked down on sleeping Harry.  "Let's hope it's not a genetic thing, or you're in big trouble."

            But seeing as how Harry was sound asleep, Sirius had very little to do.  He had to be quiet because Lily was napping; that pretty much ruled out any possibility for him to really move, as he wasn't known for his physical grace.  Instead, he found several books about babies, how to raise babies, pregnancy, and the like.   He sat himself down in the nursery and started to read.  It was something he wouldn't tell anyone about, however, because it was a huge crimp in his style.

            He thought it only right to start with pregnancy, for that was the beginning, then he'd work his way up with the time he was allowed.  He didn't expect it to be quite as fascinating as it was.  Pregnancy was actually a very interesting subject, and the pictures were just as captivating.  He finished the book in less than thirty minutes.

            "How long does it take a guy to think things over?  I laid it all out for him," he mumbled to himself as he looked at his watch.  "Oh well.  _Twenty Ways to Being the Perfect Parent_ next.  Only you people would get a book like this.  Oh and look there's a cute little inscription.  'To my beautiful wife,' isn't that sweet, 'Happy Birthday.  I hope our son is just as kind, just as brilliant, and as perfect as you are.  With all my love, James.'  People in love are sincerely nauseating, Harry, remember that," Sirius said as he began the book.

            He only got as far as step two when there was a spine-chilling cry coming from his left.  Sirius dropped the book and put his hand over his heart.  "You scared the hell out of me."  He put the book back on a shelf and leaned over the crib.  "What's wrong little dude?" 

            Harry's face was screwed up so tightly that he really didn't look like a cute baby anymore.  His eyes were sealed shut, his mouth was opened, and a horrible crying was screaming from it.  His tiny fists were clenched in little knuckles, and he was moving his legs in a desperate manner.

            "Okay, did you make a mess?" Sirius asked.  But Harry didn't really answer with actual words, just more screaming.  "Are you hungry, huh?  You want food?  I can't give you that so think of something else."

            His crying was more like some sort of cackle, only not a laugh.  His face got very red as he cried, though there were no tears, and he started making his fingers clench and unclench.

            "You are not that cute when you scream like that," Sirius said.  He started to hobble up and down on the balls of his feet.  "What's wrong?  Where's James?  Why can't Lily hear you?"

            Finally, after walking around the nursery in circles, Sirius reached down and picked Harry up, keeping him at arms length.  "There, is that what you want?"

            Harry was still wailing.

            "Sirius, relax, he's a baby.  Just remember he's smaller than you.  Here we go, Harry, why don't you stop crying, and I'll figure out a way to make whatever it is that you're crying about, go away."

            He wailed on.

            Sirius slowly pulled the baby closer to him and leaned Harry against his chest.  "Is this better?" he asked, supporting Harry's head against his shoulder with his right hand.  "And then he said to bounce up and down so let's try that."

            Though he didn't stop crying, it lessened.  "Is this better?  See, I can handle bab— why is this warm?" Sirius said as he put his other hand on Harry's bottom.  "I saw you changed a little bit ago, you didn't go again did you?"  But it seemed as though something warm had entered Harry's diaper.  "Why can't your father come back and put you right?  Because you kicked him out of his own home you idiot," he told himself.  "All I have to do is change a freaking diaper when there is no odor.  Piece of cake," he said, taking Harry to the changing table.

            He pulled a fresh diaper from the bottom tray and tossed it on the top.  First Sirius did the most obvious and pulled off the dirty diaper.  "Number two," Sirius said with a wrinkled nose.  He quickly threw it away.  "This is nice," he said as he watched Harry make more of a mess by getting number two all over his feet and in between his tiny toes.  "Stop moving for a second while I figure this out."  The good news was that Harry had stopped crying.  "Something to wipe with, a towel... 'Baby Wipes' perfect," he said, grabbing a box of labeled wipes specifically designed to not only remove the waste, but to moisturize and prevent rashes to the skin.  Sirius took about three wipes (so he wouldn't have to risk touching any of it) and quickly took off the mess.  Then he looked at the new diaper, got it ready, lifted Harry's legs into the air, put the diaper where it needed to go, then placed Harry back down.  "Not so bad," Sirius said.

            After fastening the diaper correctly and fastening the nighty back on, Sirius grinned.  "I changed a diaper," he said breathlessly.  Feeling quite accomplished, Sirius picked Harry up and held him to his chest.  "That was easy, right little man?"

            He looked at Sirius with very wide eyes, his mouth half open.

            "Piece of cake."  Sirius opened the nursery door and took Harry out into the living room where they sat on the couch.  "You're not so bad, kid."

            There was a knock on the door, followed by a name.  Sirius answered it.

            "Where's my widdle grandson?" Amanda Evans said as she entered the apartment with a sweet face.  "Come here Harry," she said in baby talk, reaching out for him.  Sirius handed him over.  She lifted him up a bit and kissed him all over before holding him close.

            "Hey, it's been a long time," Sirius said to her.

            "Oh, hello Sirius.  Yes it has been a long time.  How are you?"

            "Good.  Are those bags?" he asked, pointing to luggage in the hallway.

            "Yeah.  I'll be staying here for a week, to help with Harry."

            "Why?" Sirius asked.

            "Because I want to, Lily wants me to, and all new mothers need help.  This is the second time I've done this.  Speaking of which, where are Lily and James?" she asked.

            "Lily's taking a nap, and James is out clearing his head for a bit.  I was watching him," he explained.  "I changed him."

            "How long has it been since he's eaten?" she asked, looking down on him.

            "I have no idea."

            "Are you hungry Harry?  Are you?  Let's go find your mommy."  As she walked to the bedroom, Sirius paced and thought.  Had he said the right thing to James or was he out of line?  He'd been gone a while now, shouldn't he be back?  What a time to let that one spill, Sirius.  He just had a kid and you're wracking on his wife, he thought.  

            James came back right at that moment.  Sirius whipped around and gave a sigh of relief.  "Thank God.  I thought you were hurt or something.  What took you so long?" he asked.

            James made his lips go thin.  "I don't know," he simply said. 

            "You're mother-in-law is here.  Did you know she was coming?" Sirius asked.

            "Yeah.  She's here to help us with Harry.  It's not uncommon, you know.  My grandmother helped my mother with me," he said shortly.  He brushed past Sirius then started cleaning up.

            "Look, James, I've been thinking," Sirius started.

            "I know that," James said back without looking at him.

            "I didn't mean to get you upset," Sirius said in a calm way, trying to keep quiet.

            "I know that too.  I'm not upset with you."

            "You're not?  But you are upset?" Sirius asked.

            "Well, sort of.  It just got me thinking about everything you said and..." he shook his head and sighed.  "I'll talk about this with her."

            "Now?" Sirius asked.

            "No, when the moment arises.  Listen, thanks for taking care of Harry while I was gone."

            "Not a problem.  Actually, it was a cinch."

            "Yeah, an hour would be, but not all the time.  And I won't be able to make the World Cup next week," he said.

            "W-what?  Why not?"

            "Look around, it's chaos.  It just wouldn't seem fair for me to go and make Lily stay here with him.  I know I promised I would go, but I can't shake my responsibilities for it.  You understand, right?"

            Sirius felt like he'd been socked in the stomach, but he didn't question or protest, because by the look on his face, James was just as disappointed.

            "Yeah, I understand.  We'll go some other time when things aren't so hectic," Sirius said with a small smile.  "I'll take Remus or someone.  It won't be the same, though."

            "No," James said, "it won't.  If it makes a difference, I really wanted to go."

            "I know you did."  Sirius put his hands in his pockets and teetered on the balls of his feet.  "So I'll let you go," he said quietly.

            "You don't have to leave," James said.

            Sirius chuckled.  "Yeah I do.  You need to take care of your family, and I have to go...well.  I'll see you at work?"

            He closed his eyes and nodded.

            "Bye."

            "See ya," James whispered, and with that Sirius opened the door, walked out into the hallway, and pulled it shut.  He stood there for a while, but he didn't know why.  Eventually he walked slowly down to the street where his motorcycle was parked.  He turned on his engine, revved it a few times, then sped off.

*   *   *   *   *

Hogwarts, on summer days, looked as picturesque as it did during Christmas, only the scenery was different.  As August was coming to a close and September first was looming in the air, the castle and grounds were being worked on in preparation for the new school year.  Hagrid lived on the grounds all year, but this was his favorite time of the year.  He usually walked along the school grounds accompanied only by nature, pleased with her company.  The castle, today, was going through some renovation, which he suspected that Filch was not pleased with.  He assumed that the teachers would be coming back soon, as they usually did just before school, to prepare their classrooms.

            He thought he'd go up to the castle and see who had arrived.  Hagrid moseyed up to the castle, walked through the entrance hall, and proceeded down the corridors.  He looked inside the many classrooms.

            "Hello, Professor Flitwick," he said.

            "Good day, Hagrid!" Flitwick squeaked.  "Have a good summer?"

            "Fine.  And you?"

            "Same each year."

            Hagrid waved his giant hand at him, then moved on.  Down the hall, Professor Gellar was arranging her class and fixing up her office.  Even though it was rather warm and dusty, she still managed to look beautiful.  

            She was just starting to rearrange the desks when a bird flew through the wall and landed right beside her.  It was a small falcon.  A glowing, round, crimson jewel was embedded on his chest.  Professor Gellar looked around the room, then placed her thumb and forefinger on either side of the stone.  A small, clear diamond disk fell out of the stone and onto the table, then transformed into a transparent letter with small black writing.  After reading it, the letter self destructed, and the falcon slipstreamed out of the castle.

            Celeste wiped some dust off of her hands, then walked out of her classroom and headed for the headmaster's office.

            "Hello, Professor Gellar," Hagrid said with his most friendly grin.

            "Hello, Hagrid.  It's nice to see you again."  They only spoke in passing, as they would be sure to meet up again.  She came to the stone gargoyle, spoke the password, then stepped on the ascending staircase.  

            The headmaster was searching for a book when she entered.

            "Celeste," he said with a warm smile, "how nice it is to see you again."

            "I'm glad to be back here, sir.  How was your summer?" 

            "Well," he said avoiding her eyes.  "What brings you to my office?"

            "I'm supposed to ask you something, sir.  It's actually a request, but I don't know what it entails."

            A benign smile crossed Dumbledore's face, as if he should have suspected this.  "I was wondering when you would be doing so.  I'm afraid, though, that I will not be able to meet that.  Jill Prewitt wouldn't stand for such a thing.  Miss Narayan will have to keep her nose out of this one.  She needs to learn that she cannot simply send in spies wherever she chooses.  The members of the Order need to stay secret, whatever secret means in days such as these.  And while I have full trust of you, I don't of others.  And right now I don't know who those others are.  I need to keep Director Narayan out of this affair for many reasons, one being she's working with untrustworthy men and women.  Again, Celeste, I am sorry," he said.

            She shook her head.  "It's fine.  I understand completely."

            "I'll write to her explaining my reasons so that you don't have to."

            She looked quite relieved when he said this.  "Thanks."

            "It's always enjoyable to tell her no.  You focus on teaching the children to fight hard against the forces of evil, let us handle the evil itself."  

            She always valued his wisdom, especially now.  She often wondered what secrets he had locked away behind his kind eyes, for she knew he kept many.  But she never asked about them; she knew he wouldn't tell her.  For now, Celeste could only admire him and take him for simply the headmaster.

            "All right," she said.  She tipped her fingers to him, then left his office.  Dumbledore walked over to his desk and sat down.  He carefully dabbed his quill into his black ink well and began to write a letter, a letter he would be sending to a select few.

            Fawkes flew down to his desk and stared at the parchment, as if reading it himself.

            "There comes a time," Dumbledore said, "when matters must be taken into our own hands."  He brushed his long, gleaming white beard out of his way, then signed the letter.  "And this is one of those times."

*   *   *   *   *

Remus arrived back from Scotland on Sunday night.  He carefully unpacked all of his things and began putting them away.  The whole process was exceedingly boring, until he found something peculiar.  A large silver ring with a dull black stone was amongst his socks.  He picked it up and held it to the light.  It looked like an antique ring, probably very valuable, but he couldn't remember ever having something like this in his possession.  Curious, he slipped it on his right ring finger.

            At first he thought he felt a lunge coming from his stomach region, but it passed so quickly he thought he must have imagined it.  But once the ring was on, the stone started to gleam, as if it had suddenly been polished.  Remus brought it closer to his face.  The thick sides of the ring had dragon carvings etched in them.

            "Strange," Remus said.

            There was a knock on his door.

            "It's open," he said.  It was Sonja.

            "Hey sexy," she said just before planting a wet kiss on his lips.  "I had to see you again."

            "Really," he said, placing his hands on her waist.  "Why?  I thought you'd be sick of me by now."

            "Not possible.  I know it's late, but I was thinking we could order take-out or something."

            "Sounds good to me," Remus said.  "Hey, is this yours?" he asked, showing her the ring on his finger.  "I found it in my luggage."

            Sonja took hold of his hand and examined it.  "It was my father's," she said, not exactly meeting his eyes.  "Could I have it back?"

            "Sure," he said, taking it off.  "It's a very interesting ring.  Does it do anything?"

            "You mean like turn the wearer invisible?  No, it's not a magic ring."

            "What kind of stone is that?" he asked.

            "Um," she said, holding it, "I think it's black obsidian.  It's not worth much, but my father liked it."

            Remus watched her carefully as she slipped the ring back into her pocket.  "Chinese?" he asked.

            "What?"

            "Take-out, remember?"

            "Oh," she said.  "Right.  That's fine with me.  Chinese is great."

            "Are you doing all right, Sonja?" Remus asked. 

            "I'm just tired.  I'll be better in the morning, and I'm practically starving.  So let's get the food."

            "Right," Remus said, pulling out a book of local restaurants.

At two in the morning, Remus went to Leeds.  He ran up the staircase, then to Sirius's apartment.  He started knocking, which changed to pounding, on the door.

            "Sirius!" he whispered loudly.  "I know you're in there!"

            "What the hell do you think you're doing?" A woman yelled at him from another door.

            "Sorry," Remus said.  "Sirius!"

            The door opened.  "You are not," he started, squinting at him, "an insanely beautiful woman."  He closed the door.

            "Sirius this is important!"

            Sirius opened the door a little, but Remus forced his way in.  "You're a historian of sorts, right?" 

            "No," Sirius said, trying to maintain his balance.  "What's this about?  It's two in the morning?  Can't you call back later?  I've got to go in tomorrow by six.  That's four hours from now."

            "What's the significance of dragons?" Remus asked.  "What do they symbolize?"

            Sirius slumped on his couch and laid his head back.  "How should I know?  Look, would you leave before I kick you out?  It's night.  People sleep at night.  I'm people, therefore I sleep at night."

            "She's got this ring with a dragon encrusted on the sides.  When I put it on, I got this lurch.  The stone turns shiny when someone wears it."

            Sirius looked at him.  "And...?  Who cares, Remus.  Now please go home and leave me alone."

            "No there's something about this ring.  She got all weird when I asked her about it."

            "I don't care.  Please leave me be."

            "And her tattoo, it's a dragon."

            "Well there you have it.  She likes them.  Now please leave me alone," Sirius said as he pushed Remus out the door.

            "Jade studies history," Remus said.

            "Yes, go bug her."  Sirius slammed the door.  Remus turned and left as quickly as he had come.

*   *   *   *   *

Lily woke with a start.  She sat up so fast her head got light, but nothing seemed to be wrong.  James was sleeping soundlessly next to her, Harry wasn't crying, and she felt fine.  Lily threw the covers off of her, stepped out of bed, and walked into the kitchen for a glass of water.

            "What's the matter, dear?" her mother asked.  She was slipping on her light robe.

            "I was thirsty, I think."

            "Oh.  This is a really nice apartment," she commented as she looked around.

            "Thanks.  He hasn't cried has he?"

            "No."

            "Huh," Lily said to herself.  She finished her glass of water then went back to bed without another word to her mother.            "Wha's matter?" James mumbled.

            "Nothing, go back to sleep," she told him.  She lay back down and stared at the ceiling, unable to follow her own commands.  The moment she sighed and closed her eyes, Harry started to cry.  Lily shot out of bed and ran to the nursery, flipped on the light and picked him up.

            "He's probably just hungry," her mother said as she came into the room.

            "Yeah," Lily said uncertainly.  "He feels dry so that's what it must be."

            "What's wrong?" James asked, shuffling into the room.

            "He's hungry.  Go on back to bed, dear, there's nothing you can do," Mrs. Evans said.

            "But—"

            "Do you have breasts filled with milk, James?" she asked him.

            "No, but I—"

            "You'll only get in the way.  We appreciate that you want to help, but you would hinder our efforts.  Goodnight," she said as she pushed him out of the room.  She turned back to Lily.  "You married well."

            "Hold him for a second," Lily said, handing Harry over to her mother.  Lily unbuttoned her blouse, sat down in the rocking chair, then reached out for him.  "Here you go, sweetie," she said as she held him to her chest.  He immediately stopped crying as he began to suckle.  He opened his eyes and looked up at her.

            "Amazing, isn't it?" Amanda said, taking a seat on the opposite wall.

            "What's that?" Lily asked, still looking down at Harry.

            "How warm and special you feel when you feed him.  I remember like it was yesterday, with Petunia, then you.  It was the strangest feeling of happiness I ever had.  Just sitting there, with a baby eating away and looking up at me, like he is now."

            Lily smiled placidly and started to rock the chair.  Harry had both his hands on her, his small fingernails poked a little.

            "When he starts to bubble he needs to be burped," Amanda said.

            "Is it normal for him to just...stop but still hold on?"

            "Sure."

            "Okay, because he's doing that now.  Thanks so much for helping me.  I don't know what I'd do without you."

            Amanda smiled at her.  "You're doing great.  He's a very beautiful baby, Lily, you should be proud."

            Lily looked down at him again.  He was starting to bubble at the mouth.  She pulled him away then rested him on her shoulder, patting his back.  "This is right, right?"

            "Right," Amanda said.  "Burping is a fairly simple concept.  This is the easy stuff here, when he's so young.  You just wait until he grows up and wants to go to that school you went to."

            Lily snapped her head up.  "Hogwarts?"

            "Well he's going, isn't he?" Amanda asked.

            "I haven't thought about that.  That's so far away from now, he was just born a little over a week ago.  It's a bit soon to think about that."

            "It'll go by in a blink, and you'll wonder where all that time went," she said with a yawn.

            "You act as though it's like turning a page," Lily said with half a grin.

            "It is," Amanda said back.

            Lily stared at her, her smile slowly fading.  "You're depressing me."

            "I'm sorry.  Has he burped yet?" she asked, as though the transition was clean.

            "Yes.  Um, how's Petunia handling her situation?"

            "Just as well.  He's going to have blonde hair, it's coming in that way at least.  He started smiling a few weeks ago, and his eyes are starting to change color.  They're very happy with him."

            "Is she a good mother?"

            Amanda smiled.  "Yes, she is.  I know to start it's hard and you worry a lot, but you'll be fine, Lily.  It'll come to you.  It'll come."

            "Do you think he's full?" Lily asked.

            "How should I know?  See if he wants more."

            "I don't want him to eat too much," Lily said.  As it turned out, Harry did want more.  "What if he eats himself sick?"

            Amanda laughed.  "Do you eat yourself sick?"

            "No."

            "Then why should he?  He'll stop when he's full.  He has the same kind of bodily functions that you have."

            True, Lily thought, very true.  

            "Well, you've got this under control.  I'm going back to sleep."

            "Night," Lily said.  Harry pulled back a bit.  Lily wiped his mouth with her shirt then cradled him.  "Are you ready to go back to sleep?" she asked him.  "Hmmm?"  She lifted him up then kissed his soft cheeks.  "Let's go to sleep Harry."

            But then another noise reached her ears.  First there was a rumbling, then what sounded like a rubbing kind of thing.  Lily looked at Harry's face and saw that he looked like he was pushing something.

            "Uh oh," she said, unable to keep from giggling.  "Did Harry go poo poo?  Did you?  I think you did," she sang.  She lay him down on the changing table and took off the dirty diaper.  "You did go poopy," she said, kissing his cheeks again.  "Lots of poopy.  Yucky."

            She covered him up while she got her new diaper and the super-deluxe wipes, so he couldn't get a shot at her.  After cleaning him up, slapping a new diaper on him, and hoisting him back into the air so she could kiss his cheeks again, she laid him back in his crib.

            She leaned on it, spun the snitch mobile around, then watched him fall asleep.  His gaze never left her until his eyes closed.

            "Goodnight," she whispered.  She laid one more blanket over him, squeezed his tiny hand, then went back to bed.

            James appeared to be sleeping, but he smiled when Lily got back into bed.  She got close and snuggled up with him.

            "How is he?" James whispered.

            "Fine," she answered.  "He's so cute."

            "That seems to be the consensus, doesn't it?" he asked, rolling onto his side so he could look at her.

            "Yeah," she said grinning at him.  "You look funny without your glasses," she said.

            James laughed.  "How long have you felt that way?" he teased.

            "Since I saw you without them.  I don't know, you just look so...innocent or something, and I know you're anything but that." 

            "Well, the truth comes out.  When I first saw you I thought you were nice," he said.

            "Appearances can be deceiving," she said in a low, throaty voice.  She raised her eyebrows a few times.  "Aren't they?"

            James put his hand on the back of her head and pulled himself towards her for a kiss.  It had been some time since they could be together without a small person kicking Lily.  He had always gotten a little overly excited when passion was involved, but now that he was in the nursery...

Sirius pulled out the seat for his date, then sat across from her.  She looked radiant in a maroon dress.  Her hair was dark and curly, her eyes were tantalizingly blue, and her smile made his stomach do flip flops.  He was hoping this date would go better than his past two.  He was also dreading James's voice floating across his mind as she spoke.

            "So, Victoria," Sirius began, "what do you do for a living?"

            "I'm a publicist for _Witch Weekly_," she said with her smile.

            _So far so good,_ Sirius heard himself say inside his busy mind.  "Interesting," he said.

            "Well it has its moments, but all in all it's boring.  I mean, I meet all kinds of famous people—"

            _Uh oh.  She's a kiss-up._

            "But they're really not a big deal, I mean they can be really dull.  Last Thursday I met up with the Minister of Magic, and one word: face-lift.  I mean you'd think he was a dinosaur or something."

            "So you're more into cosmetics?" he asked.  _Say no, please say no!_

            "Yes," she said, snapping her fingers.  "I suggested a whole new lipstick line to the cosmetics department last week and they said they'd think about it.  Isn't that great Cyrus?"

            "Sirius," he corrected her.  "And that's fantastic," he said dryly.  _Please, God, if you really exist, please send me to work.  Have someone owl me, please.  Let there be an emergency that I have to get to.  Maybe my mother's ill, and I have to see her before she dies?  Yes!  That's a great excuse!  How do I work it in, though?  Geez, listen to her go on.  Bla bla bla about your make up.  You want to know what I think about your make up, Vicky?  I think you can shove it up your— _

"My sister always said I should do modeling for swimsuits," she said.

            _Wait...  The situation seems to be improving._

            "Modeling?" Sirius said.  "Have you looked into that?"

            "A little.  You think I could do it?"

            "Wonderfully," he said, grinning.

            "My sister is currently on the cover of _Play Wizard_."

            "That's your sister?  Well you're much prettier than she is.  I'll bet you'll have an entire issue to yourself."

            "You think so?" she asked.

            "Absolutely."  Dinner went very well.  They had fried shrimp, steak, and champagne.  Sirius was mighty pleased that he didn't give up on Victoria, and even happier that James's voice hadn't interfered.

            "You want to come inside?" she asked, her hand on the door knob of her house.

            "If you want me to," he said.

            She smirked, grabbed his hands, then led her into her dark home.  "Don't you want lights?" he asked.

            "No," she said giggling.

            Sirius couldn't see her, but he sure felt her lips on his.  Sirius didn't want to be rude, so he kissed her back.  He let his hands travel over her shapely body.  His right hand found the zipper on the back of the dress.

            _Don't do it, Sirius, _an annoying voice said.  He tried to shake it off, but it kept coming back. _Think about all the consequences that go along with this.  Do you want her to get pregnant and then have to take care of a baby?  You're not ready for these kinds of things.  Can you see yourself married to this woman?  Can you stand to wake up with her every single day?_

_            But I won't,_ he said back.  _I won't marry her._

_            Oh, so you'll knock her up and not marry her, I see.  Your children will be just as dumb as she is, you know._

_            Who said anything about kids?_

_            You're going to engage in sexual reproduction, aren't you?  Reproduction implies children.  Those charms only say they're effective, but the simple existence of your godson proves otherwise.  Are you ready for Sirius junior?  Do you want this woman to be the mother of Sirius junior?  Are you ready to make these kinds of decisions?  Remember how you felt after you did this with Liz?_

Sirius pulled back.

            "What's wrong?" she asked.

            He couldn't exactly see her face so it was difficult to explain.  "I um...I'm not ready to—I think we should get to know one another better before— let's hold off for a while, okay?" he said.

            "Lights," Victoria commanded.  Suddenly the house was illuminated.  "All right," she said with a smile.

            "Good.  It's better to wait for these kinds of things, you know?" he said, backing up to the door.  "Waiting is good."

            "Owl me?" she said.

            "Yep," he said, tripping out of the house.

At noon, Remus took his lunch break and headed over to the Ministry of Magic, History and Intelligence Department, which was in London.  He had never been inside the building before; it wasn't something he desired to do, but he quickly found his way.

            "May I help you?" the receptionist asked.

            "Can I speak with Jade Yang?" he asked.  "I'm a friend."

            She smiled then looked down at her roster.  "She's giving a presentation right now, but she should be done in twenty minutes or so.  You can have a seat."

            He thanked her then sat down.  After thirty minutes of constantly checking his watch, Jade came down to see him.

            "Remus?  What a pleasant surprise.  What do you need?"

            "Your expertise on something.  Could we do this in private?" he asked.

            "Oh sure.  Come on up."  She led him to an elevator with no buttons, stepped inside, then they were lifted to her department.  "Have you been to the Ministry before?" she asked.

            "Nope."

            The inside was quite lovely, actually.  There were several desks lining the elliptical walls.  Great slender pillars held up the ceiling, where sunlight came pouring inside.  Jade led Remus to her office, which was small but private.  Her desk was large and very neat.  "Sit," she said, indicating a chair.  "So what's up?" she asked.

            "Well, it could be nothing, but something tells me it is."

            "You'll have to be a bit more specific," she said with a smile.     

            "Sorry.  Okay, my girlfriend and I went to Scotland a little bit ago, and when I was unpacking I found a strange ring inside my luggage.  It was a man's ring.  There was a large black stone in the center, and dragon carvings on the side.  She got a bit passive when I asked her about it.  She said it was her fathers then sort of changed the subject."

            Jade started chewing on her quill, then jotted down a few notes.  "What's her last name, again?"

            "Woods.  Sonja Woods.  So what do you think?"

            "It's probably nothing, but it sounds a bit Tolkien if you ask me."

            "What?"

            "I read the Hobbit.  Could you sketch the ring?" she said, passing him a sketchpad and drawing pencil.

            "I can try."

            "Dragons...hmm.  Dragons are interesting.  They serve a dual purpose in literature, but now they're really more of a nuisance than anything else.  Let me go and get some books from the library about them."  Jade departed but returned minutes later, laden with thick volumes.  "Do you know her father's first name?"

            "Yeah, Abner.  He died several years ago.  Still, I've never seen her with that ring.  We went to her house, so maybe it just slipped or something."

            "Abner Woods.  The name does sound a little familiar.  Tetrahedron," she said.  Instantly a tetrahedron shaped mass appeared above her desk.  "Find me files on Abner Woods."

            A few seconds passed.  "Information on Abner Woods is classified," a smooth female voice said.

            "Why?" Jade asked.

            "Abner Woods worked with the International Wizard Bureau of Investigation."

            "Interesting," Jade said.  "Can you tell me as what?"

            "Covert Operations Field Agent, Intelligence Department."

            "You're girlfriend's father was a spy, and if his records are classified, probably a good one.  How did he die, do you know?" she asked him.

            Remus shook her head.  "She won't say.  If the information is classified, then how can you ask for his profession?"

            "That's the reason it is classified.  Most members of the IWBI are.  The most we can get on any of them is their name and position.  However, most of the spies that are still breathing this good air aren't on record.  Abner is coming up because he's dead.  I still can't get anything about him, though.  That probably means they're still working on his information."

            "So James and Sirius?"

            She shook her head.  "Names and positions only.  It's impossible to get addresses, spouse information, family history, nothing.  Sirius said they have wards and charms on their employ's homes.  Working for the IWBI is a dangerous thing.  Are you finished with the drawing?"

            "Oh, yeah."  He handed it to her.  Jade stared at it hard.  "I'm not the best artist," Remus said casually.

            "This design," she said thoughtfully, "where have I seen it?"

            "It's familiar to you?"

            "Yes.  Damn, I've seen it somewhere before but where?  Where did you see it, Jade?" she said to herself.  "The stone, what is it?"

            "She said it was black obsidian."

            "That's a fairly common stone, it's not even a gem.  What else is black obsidian?"

            "I have no idea," he said, shrugging his shoulders.  Just then, a tall good-looking man entered.

            "Jade, have you finished that report on Regan yet?" he asked.

            "Yes, and its Reagan.  Here it is," she said, handing it to him.  "My prediction for the next president of the United States.  He's running.  Election's in November.  It's just stuff we do here."

            "He's a Muggle?"

            "Yeah, but leadership, Muggle or magical, is still important.  So look, I'll work on this ring in my spare time, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.  In the meantime, ask her about it, but try and be coy."

            "Fine.  Was that man Kevin?" he asked with half a smirk.

            Jade pursed her lips out a little.  "Yeah, that was Kevin."

            "Ah.  A face really helps when I hear these stories.  He is really tall," Remus said.

            "Yes he is.  So I'll see you later?" she said.

            "Yes, later."  And with that, Remus left, feeling a little better about his uneasiness.

*   *    *    *   *

James paced the bathroom, occasionally gazing into the foggy mirror.  He kept mumbling to himself, then mumbled some more as he looked into the mirror.  He pulled off a dry towel and ruffled his wet hair with it, continuing to talk to himself.

            "Be a man," he said.  "Put your foot down.  Don't be a doormat.  You have rights," he said, pointing to himself in the mirror.  "You are the man.  The husband.  The father.  You are the head of the household.  Whatever you say goes.  Yeah, that's right, James.  She's so going to kill you."  He rested his hands on either side of the sink and let his head fall forward.  "I don't think you should leave Harry with your parents all day long.  No, I _don't_ want you to leave Harry with your parents all day.  You're his mother.  You should take care of him, not your mother.  Do I sound chauvinistic?" he asked his reflection.  "Maybe I should tone it down."

            "James, are you all right in there?" Lily yelled.

            "Yes, dear!" he yelled back.  "Okay, be tough, be brave, be a man and stand up to your wife.  You can do this."

            "Why are you talking to yourself?" she asked.

            "I have a group to talk to this morning," he lied.

            "Nervous?" she asked.

            "Incredibly."

            "You'll do fine," she said.  "Have you seen my backpack?  I can't find it anywhere."

            "Put your clothes on, you idiot," he said, looking at his towel around his waist.

            Lily walked through the apartment, lifting up blankets, towels, baby clothes, tiny socks, and diapers in search of her backpack.  "I had it right here," she said, pointing to the couch.  "Where's my backpack, Harry?" she asked him as he down in his basinet.  "Have you seen it?" she asked, smiling and talking in a high pitch and sickeningly sweet tone.  Harry squirmed around and grabbed onto her dangling hair with his tiny fists.  "No, sweetie, let go of mommy's hair."

            "I think it could be in the nursery someplace," James said as he entered the living room.

            "Let go," Lily was whispering to Harry.  "Let go of mommy, that's it."  She stood up.  "Nursery?  Why would it be in there?"

            "Why do we have diapers littered all over the flat?  Who knows," he said.  Lily went into the nursery.  "What time is your first class?" he yelled to her.

            "Nine!"

            James checked his watch; it was ten minutes to eight.  "Why are you leaving so early?"

            "Found it!  I have to take Harry to my parents' house and get him settled first."

            James shoved his hands in his pocket.  "How long are you going to be at school?" he asked, trying to keep the edge out of his voice.

            "Gosh I don't know," she said, coming back out into the living room.  She had one bag slung over her back, another in her left hand, and a diaper bag in her right.  "My last class is at three, but I don't know how long it's supposed to go.  Still, I'll be able to see patients real soon," she said, grinning.

            "It's the year you've been waiting for, isn't it?" he asked.

            "Yes!  All that stupid hard busy work is over, and now things get practical.  We start out with a ton of lab work, but the real deal is soon to come.  Now, I'm supposed to sling this here," she said, strapping on a harness-like-thing to her chest.  "I've got my notebooks, his bag, and his extra bag," she said to herself, "now I just need him.  Okay this is all going to work."  She picked Harry up and slipped him into the pouch in front of her, holding the back of his head.

            "So that's it then?  You're just going to leave him there all day?"

            Lily looked up at him.  "No," she said cooly.  "I'll drop by at around twelve so I can feed him, then go back to class and pick him up when I'm done.  Unless you can pick him up.  What time are you off today?"

            "Five."

            "Then I'll pick him up when class is out," she said.

            "And you're at school how many days a week?"

            "Four, and then lectures on Sunday.  What is this about?" she asked, her head cocked to the side.

            Be brave, be brave.  "I don't know that I want Harry to stay with your folks for so long.  He doesn't go more than thirty minutes without needing you.  Don't you think you should stay with him?" he said.

            "You're asking me to quit," she said.  "You're asking me to quit school so I can be some housewife?"

            "Don't get angry," James said calmly.

            "What should I do?"

            "Let's discuss this like adults, okay?"

            "So let me get this straight.  You can go off to work, to a dangerous job, so you can risk your life and make money, but I can't go to school because I have a uterus and breasts?"

            James stared at her, the heat rising in his face.  "You think I'm doing this because I'm sexist?  Come on, Lily, this is me.  You've known me for nine years, don't start with the name calling or the ridiculous assumptions."

            "Well what then?  Why do you get to go to work, and I have to stay here?"

            "I didn't say that," James said.  "I wondered if you should stay with him because it's better for him.  That's what I said."

            "Oh, what, so now he's going everywhere with me?  Can't you see a problem with that?  Why can't you take care of him?  Why can't you give up your job?  Why does it have to be me?"

            It was then that James lost it.  He had wanted to deny everything Sirius had told him, but now that was impossible.

            "It's always _me_ that's making sacrifices for _you_!" he yelled, his face puce.  "If I could express how sick and tired I am of letting you kick me around, I would!  It's never about me, Lily, it's always about you!  I seem to remember, yes let me think, a time when I was offered an opportunity that you just didn't like!  I gave it up, no questions asked because I was obligated to you first!  I have put up with all of your studying crap, all of your stress, all of you damn wining and exhaustion for so damn long!  I'm tired of it!  TIRED!  When will you ever give me some respect and acknowledge that I am part of this equation?  It's not just you, Lily.  You married me.  You told me, you told God, you told your family and friends that you would love, honor, and respect me until death!  I've held up to my end, how about you?"

            Lily's mouth was open in shock.  Even Harry wasn't making any noise.  He was clutching onto Lily's shirt with his hands.  Lily seemed to be motionless; she hardly blinked.  James continued.

            "If you had wanted to become a doctor so bad, then you should have said no to my marriage proposal.  If your medical career was more important, then it should have taken the number one spot on your list of priorities.  But you didn't.  Instead you made it me, but then you haven't.  Never have you come to me asking about what I think in regards to your schooling.  Never have you come to me asking what I want.  And you know what, for a while I was all right with that, I really was.  It's always been that way between you and me, I know it.  You've had me wrapped around that pinky finger of yours since the day we met.  I really don't think that any amount of conversation will change that.  

            "But it's not about me anymore, Lily.  If you had wanted to walk all over me until one of us died, fine.  But things have changed around here, if you haven't noticed.  Now there's a third person in this home.  We can't think about ourselves first anymore.  What about him, Lily?" he said, pointing to Harry.  "He didn't ask to be brought into the world.  He didn't ask to be shoved in the middle of this equation.  He doesn't care that you want to be a doctor, or that I go to my dangerous job, or that there are some very evil things happening in this world.  The only thing he is capable of caring about is whether we are here.  I know he needs both of us, but let's be reasonable.  Right now he needs you a whole lot more than he needs me.  And yes, a lot of that is because you have a uterus and breasts.  There is no amount of magic or desire in me to change that.  You are his mother.  Hell, you have technically known him longer than I have.  You carried him for over nine months inside you, letting him grow.  When I pick him up he still cries.  When you pick him up he stops.  It's human nature.  No, it's nature in general.  Offspring need their mothers at a younger age more than their fathers.  Can't you see that?  Can't you see how he is with you and how he is with me?  He gets upset for some reason, and you hold him to your chest so he can hear your heart beating, and he relaxes.  I can't do that.  If I could take half of this I would, but I can't."  James stared at her staring at him.  He ran his shaky hands through his hair, then crashed on the couch.  They were silent for a while.

            "What are you thinking now?" she whispered.

            He shook his head.  "I'm waiting for you to respond.  I've said everything that came into my head.  Now it's your turn."

            "Oh," she replied.  "How long have you wanted me to quit?" she asked.

            "Honestly?" he asked.

            "Why stop now," she said, sitting down.

            "A while.  Since at least last October."

            "Why didn't you say any of this?" she asked.

            "Would it have made much of a difference?"  He sighed then leaned back.  "I didn't want to be the one coming down to wreck your dreams.  It would have seemed selfish of me, if I had asked you to quit last year.  What would have been the point?  I go to work, you went to school.  But when I came home I was done.  When you came home you continued.  That was my biggest complaint.  You were more like a roommate, not my wife.  But like I said, it can't be about me anymore.  We have to think what's best for him."

            Lily considered him for a moment.  Harry's raspy breathing was the only thing they could hear.

            "I almost half way done," she said, but that was as far as she got.  James stood up and stomped out of the living room.  "Why quit now when I've finally gotten to where I want to be?"

            James whirled around.  "FINE!" he yelled.  "FINE!  Go ahead and become a doctor so you can help strangers!  GO!  Go drop off our three-week-old son at your mother's house so she can take care of him while you fulfill your dream!  GO!  But I want you to remember that I, your husband and father of our child, asked you not to go, for HARRY!  I'm just a stupid man, what do I know about the welfare of my son?!!  What do I know about my wife having respect for my decisions?  Go ahead and leave him while you study!" he screamed.

            Now Harry began to cry.

            "It's not like I'm leaving him with strangers, James.  He's staying with his grandparents."

            "Oh, well then it's okay!" he said sarcastically.  "My mistake!  As long as he's with family then I guess everything is all better now.  Yes, it is.  Now you can be a part-time mother.  And his grandmother can be a part-time mother and part-time grandmother.  Yes, that's so much better.  Why didn't you say something before!" he yelled again.

            "So I'm not allowed to do what I want because I'm a mother?" she yelled back.

            "How selfish can you possibly be?" he asked.  "Have you even been listening to what I've been saying?  If you were a good mother you would care for our baby instead of trying to be a doctor!"

            "How dare you!  How dare you lecture me about parenting!  You know as much as I do about it, yet you're already a scholar on what constitutes a good parent and a bad one?  How dare you!"

            "At least I'm making judgments!" he yelled.  "At least I can decipher what's good for our son!  The only thing you care about is what you want.  I can't believe I married such a selfish woman!  I thought maybe having a baby would change that, but I guess it didn't.  I feel so sorry for him.  You're going to deprive him of a good childhood because you're selfish, and you want what you want, and you don't care what happens to him or to me!"

            "That's not true!" she yelled.  Her eyes were starting to redden.

            "I'd like for you to prove otherwise," he said, crossing his arms.

            But Lily had had enough.  Scowling, breathing heavily, and trying to get Harry to stop crying, Lily turned on her heal, walked through the door, and slammed it behind her.  James stomped over to the door and opened it to yell back at her.  "Have a great day in class without Harry in your arms!"

            She didn't turn around to acknowledge him.  She walked briskly down the hallway, knowing that her husband was boring holes in the back of her head.  Harry was still wailing in her arms.  She spoke soothingly to him, but it didn't matter.

            "Shhh," she said.  "Don't cry, Harry, don't cry.  No more yelling," she whispered, then kissed his soft cheeks.  "No more yelling.  Please stop crying," she started, but she found that even she couldn't keep the tears inside her anymore.  They poured down her face like a flowing stream, each tear was painfully cold and caused her to shiver until she wiped them away.

            She was walking down the staircase when she heard James slam the door.  He walked into the kitchen and paced around, all the words he had said were playing like a broken record in his head.  His entire body had gotten tense and he could almost feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins.  He couldn't remember a time when he was really angry with Lily.  She had done annoying things from time to time, but he figured he did too.  But this, this was ten times worse than anything that had been between them.  He couldn't ever remember yelling quite that loud at her.  But he was more concerned that she wouldn't respect his wishes.  

            James was so lost in thought that he didn't notice a large gray owl fly into the room bearing a great thick envelope with a red and gold seal on the back.  It was only when the owl bit him, that he took the letter.

            It was addressed to him and Lily.  James ripped the envelope open and recognized the loopy handwriting as Albus Dumbledore's.  Intrigued, he read:

            _"To the good people of our future,_

_            As you all are aware, the masses of evil have been rising right before our very eyes.  Many of us are unacquainted with just how severe these satanic powers are, but many of us have been victims of it.  We have lost our mothers, our fathers, our siblings and our sons and daughters to seemingly unstoppable peril._

_            Life, most unfortunately, is not a fairytale.  It did not begin with "Once upon a time," nor will it end with "happily ever after."  But while such good things are beyond our grasp, there is no need to let life fall into the fires of hell.  Evil exists.  I myself have witnessed its merciless appetite, as quite a few of you have as well.  But with such forces, there is also goodness.  For where there is terrible darkness, there must also be cleansing light.  Where there is affliction there is righteousness._

_            Too long have we let this darkness scour our earth.  Too long have we stood, waiting for it to disappear.  Too long have we waited for a mythological hero.  It is time to take up our swords._

_            There comes a time in our many years when fighting is all we have left.  This is one of those times.  I am asking you to join with me in this battle.  I have known all of you for many years.  I know that your hearts posses daring, chivalry, nobility, bravery, kindness, morality, patience, compassion, and a drive to conquer a goal.  I know that you will help me._

_            None of us are equal, yet we each have something in common.  We need to protect.  We, as human beings, must protect something or someone in our lives.  Our country, our schools, our institutions, our spouses, or our children need us to fight Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters._

_            Bravery and virtue such as this, died many years ago when Voldemort was allowed to instill fear in us all.  It is time that our bravery and our virtue rise from the ashes and grow into a mighty force of companionship to better combat the Dark Lord._

_            Good people of the future, I am asking you to become integral members of the Order of the Phoenix; an order that will try do nothing more than save this world from Voldemort's grip of demise._

            _Hogwarts has been the stage for your education into wizardry, and even into the wizarding world.  Let it also be the setting stage of the new age.  On the commencement weekend of the new school year, the Order of the Phoenix will meet for the first time.  I expect to see each one of you there.  _

_There comes a time when matters need to be taken into our own hands, and this is one of those times._

_            Yours in Fellowship,_

_            Albus Dumbledore"_

James sighed, closed the letter, and slipped it slowly back into the envelope, pondering it's content.  Across the country, several other wizards and witches did the same, including Sirius Black.


	30. The Order of the Phoenix

***The Marauder Chronicles; The End of Innocence, is a fan fiction. Main characters and some locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. Copyright infringement is not intended. Original characters and the IWBI belong to me. This story isn't to be duplicated or sold.***

Note: to set some things straight: Sonja Woods is not Oliver's mother. Jade Yang is not Cho Chang's mother. The only parents in this story are Lily and James. All other last names are a mere coincidence. Please look at the note at the end of this chapter so you can save me the time of answering the same question over and over. I love questions, but this one you need to not ask for I have explained it in the endnote.

Seven: The Order of the Phoenix  
  


Sirius put the letter and envelope back on his kitchen counter. Dumbledore had a way of captivating people, but this was completely different. Sirius really didn't know what to think or to feel. That letter said so much, yet was incredibly vague. 

He walked to his chair to pick up his blue Bureau robes, then slipped them on, still consumed by that letter. What did it mean? What exactly was the Order going to do? Why now? Who else got this letter? Certainly James had, right? Dumbledore always seemed to admire James, even though he was constantly bending the rules. He made James Head Boy, so he had to have gotten this letter as well. But why Sirius? Why him? Dumbledore has to know about his attempted murder on Snape. He had to have seen right through that. Practical jokes can only go so far; Dumbledore had to know. But why, then, did he invite Sirius to be part of the Order?

Sirius walked out of his flat and Disapparated to see James. He entered without being announced. James was sitting on his couch, tapping the large envelope on his knee. He held his chin in his hand, and he gazed at the opposite wall.

"You got it too," Sirius said, signaling to it.

"Mmm," he replied, nodding.

"Where's Lily?" he asked.

"Don't know. Norfolk maybe."

Sirius walked over. "And Harry?"

"With her."

"Oh," he said silently. "What does this mean?" he asked, raising the envelope.

James took his eyes from the wall and landed them on Sirius. "I'm not really sure. I guess we'll learn that on Saturday. It sounds like it could be an answer. If there's anyone who can stop all this, it's Dumbledore. I'm going. How 'bout you?" 

Sirius nodded. "Yeah. I just can't figure out why he wants me there. You, I can understand. You rescued Snape, you graduated at the top of the class, and you're so damn noble it makes me sick sometimes. But what do I have? What could I possibly add to that group?"

James gave him a calm grin. "Loyalty. Your good nature. Your sense of humor. Sirius," he started, sighing, "you really are a good person, despite everything I've said to you a while ago. I shouldn't have interfered in your life. I'm sorry."

Sirius smiled. "No, that's actually all right. You were sort of right. I seemed to have grown a conscience, though, and I'm not really sure if I'm happy with that. I have these little voices inside my head that argue with each other. It's not just one voice, though. I know that one is my conscience and the other is...me? This is such a pain. I was ready to commit to this woman, you know?"

"You mean sleep with her?" he asked.

"Yeah. The first date, and I didn't even like her personality. I remember the first time I did that and how I felt afterwards... I felt like I had stolen something from her. And I had, actually, now that I think about it. We were way too young, too innocent to be active in such things. And this woman I was with the other night, I can't even remember her last name. And she was extremely boring and superficial. Yet I was ready to take a piece of her, all because she was attractive. What kind of person does that make me? I just can't stop thinking about it. And I know the reason I am thinking about it is because of you and all that crap you told me."

James muffled.

"Well, it wasn't crap. Still, I couldn't help but think that maybe it is time that I grow up and pursue something meaningful."

"Use caution," James said.

"Uh oh," Sirius said.

"Yeah," James remarked, sitting up, "that's a good way to put it."

"So you did talk to her about it," he said, his eyes widening.

"Talk may not be the correct word. I think hollered, no, screamed would be more appropriate."

"You yelled at her?"

"Yes I did. I can't remember yelling that loudly at anyone, not even Snape. I shouldn't have, but I lost my temper. She was acting so selfishly. It's as if she didn't care that she was walking all over me. I told her that's how it was. She didn't deny it, didn't apologize for it, nothing. She hardly yelled back. I think I would feel better if she had yelled back. Then she turned around, with Harry, and left. I assume she went to her mother's, but I don't know. I would call over but I'm not real good with a telephone. I wish I hadn't shouted at her. But everything you said was right. I mean, she has got me on a chain."

"Yeah, and it's only gotten worse now that you're married. It's like a legal chain."

"Almost, yes. She's got to back off or something. Let me have control once in a while. I don't need it all the time. I don't want it all the time. I've seen her job around here, and I don't want it. She's always taking care of Harry and telling me off for getting in her way. But then today she starts telling me I should take more care of him! Well I try, but she just pushes me. 'You don't have breasts.' Well duh. I told her that today, you know. I told her I can't do some things, and she gets all weird on me. Women. You can't live with them, and you just can't get through to them."

"I think they're all like that. Especially the beautiful ones. They know they can control us with sex. They dangle it in front of us like a carrot and tease us with it. If only we could eliminate that desire, then they couldn't control us like livestock."

"So they'll always have control of you, then," James said with a grin.

"That's what's so damn frustrating! Even if I could eliminate that, I wouldn't. Why live?"

James laughed. "She really has me whipped, doesn't she?"

"Yes. It was never really this bad. She didn't have this much control when you first started dating, but it evolved. I'm sure you can fix this with her, it'll just take a lot of time."

James sighed again. "I know. You don't think she'd leave me over this, do you?"

"How can you be so insecure about her? You've known Lily for years, James, do you really think she'd walk out on you?"

"She was really upset."

"She won't. She'll come back. I'm sure of it."

"You're right."

"Of course I'm right. Why don't you try to call over?"

"I've seen Lily use the phone, but I've never called anyone," he said, getting up and going into the kitchen. He picked up the receiver, held it to his ear, then looked down at the phone. "Now what do I do?" he asked.

"Dial, right?"

"How am I supposed to do that? What's the number?" James looked in the drawers for a phonebook, pulled it out, then searched it. "Evans," he mumbled. "Wow, there are tons of Evans's. Here we go, Robert and Amanda. Thank heaven they're listed. I'm calling," he said as he dialed the numbers. 

"Be nice," Sirius said, walking over to him.

James nodded. "Hello? Amanda, this is James. I'm fine, I guess. Listen, has Lily dropped by yet? Uh huh. Right. She's right outside the front door," he said looking at Sirius. "She hasn't rung the door bell yet? How long has she been out there? Ten minutes."

The eyes in Sirius's head popped out.

"We sort of had a little row this morning, that's probably why she's crying. Well, it's a bit of a long story, but I basically said that I wanted her to raise Harry, instead of you and Robert. That school of hers is really-yes. I know she's wanted this for a long time. Yes, I know she's very good at it. You do?" he said, straightening up. "Really?" he asked, smiling. "So you think I'm right?"

Sirius grinned and gave two thumbs up.

"I didn't present it the best I could. I actually lost my temper, which is why she's in tears, but you think I have the right idea? That's excellent. I know you stayed home with your girls, and that's all I want for my son; you understand that. It's better if he always has a parent around, and if Lily goes to school, Harry won't even have that when she's here; she's always studying. You have an idea? You think you can pull her around? I know Lily's stubborn," James said chuckling. "She gets it from Robert, huh? I believe that. Yes, he will be going to Hogwarts when he's eleven. He'll be gone nine months out of the year. Thatwould be a perfect time for her to finish school. You think she'll be able to do that? Uh huh, yeah. Great. Can you call me back afterwards to tell me how it goes? Thanks, Amanda, I really appreciate it. Talk to you later, bye."

"Goodbye James," Amanda said, then hung up the phone. She could see Lily standing at the front door, ready to knock, but she didn't. Amanda went to open it.

"Mum," she said surprised. "Hi."

"Hello, dear. What are you doing?"

"I just got here," Lily said, wiping a tear away.

"What's the matter? Lily, come in," she said, taking Lily by the hand and dragging her inside. "Why are you so upset?"

Lily started crying again. "We had a really big fight," she sobbed.

"Oh my goodness," she said, hugging Lily and Harry, who was tucked away in her pouch. "Why don't you tell me about it."

"Well," Lily said, taking a seat on the sofa, Harry sitting quietly for the time. "He wants me to quit school so I can be a housewife," she said, sounding disgusted.

"Did he say that?" she asked.

"Not exactly like that, but that's the gist of it," she said angrily.

"I can't see him saying something like that, Lily. He's not that type of man."

"That's what I thought until this morning. I don't want to stay at home all the time and be his slave or something."

"Lily you're really blowing this out of proportion. What did he ask you to do? Tell me without all the emotion."

Lily took a deep breath. "He wants me to quit school so I can be with Harry. I told him that you were going to take him when I went to school, and he went to work. It's not as if I'm leaving him with a stranger. And I only have class four times out of the week."

"To start," Amanda interrupted. "But it will become much more demanding as time goes on, you know that. Lily, the older children get, the more difficult they become. This right now," she said, pointing to Harry, "this is easy. Look at him. He's quiet, almost asleep. That's all he does right now: eat, sleep, and dirty diapers. That's all. He'll start to crawl, then walk, then talk, and before you know it he'll be starting preschool. This really isn't about your husband, Lily, it's about your baby."

Lily sniffed. "You think I should drop out?"

"Let me ask you this. Do you think you should?"

Lily stared at her, as if seeing her mother for the first time. Amanda reached down, unfastened the pouch Harry was in, then lifted him out and cradled him.

"He's fine with you," Lily said, smiling at her.

"Yes he is. But how are you without him?" she asked. She kissed Harry then looked back at her daughter. "Can you leave him here? Can you go to class without having him around? Maybe you should try it, Lily. Leave all of his stuff with me and I'll take him until your done. Go to class and leave him with me."

But Lily didn't move.

"Say goodbye to your mommy, Harry," Amanda said, smiling. She took Harry's hand and waved it at Lily. "Say bye-bye, Harry. Lily, it's the first day, you'd better go if you want a seat."

Lily put the diaper bag, and Harry's other bag, down on the sofa. Then she stood up, very slowly, constantly watching Harry watch her. Amanda got up and walked her to the door.

"Goodbye," Amanda said. "Have a nice day in class, sweetheart. Kiss your baby goodbye, Lily."

Lily bent down and kissed her son, squeezed his hands, then backed away. "Bye," she whispered, fighting back her tears. "Be good for grandma," she whispered again.

"You have to go if you don't want to be late," Amanda said, pushing Lily out the door. "Have a nice day." And with that, the door closed.

Lily stood there, facing the closed door, her baby inside without her. Lily put her hand to her mouth and started to sob. Then, after ten minutes of bawling and arguing with herself, Lily Disapparated.

* * * * *

James and Sirius said goodbye for the day, as they worked in separate offices. Sirius tried convincing James that everything would work out, though he secretly doubted it. Lily was very stubborn.

Since Amin's death, James had slowly moved into his office. There was a small desk label that read "James Potter, Director of Operations." He didn't really know if he liked it, especially today. In any event, he sat down and pulled up some files to work on.

He couldn't help but notice that the missions he would assign were not going very well. He had personally lost contact, whatever that meant these days, with six different agents. Missing in action was never a good sign, especially considering most of them were probably dead or were in such a condition they would probably welcome death.

"Good you're here," Director Narayan said, as she burst into his office and took a seat. "We have to talk."

"I'm listening," he said, dropping a file on his desk.

"I'm having some problems with infiltration. It's like I'm blind to everything. You have to recruit more people who are already on the inside. He's getting clever; I can't send in new people anymore or he'll kill them."

"I can't recruit spies," he said.

"Let me rephrase it then," she said, seeming to be slightly irritated. "I have someone who is very good with persuading people, someone very perceptive. Talk to him. You two have to be on the same frequencies for this to work."

"Who is he?"

"Morris Burg. He's actually a part time Quidditch player now, very influential. You know him."

"I do?"

"He was one of the men you saved last year in the forest of Albania. I'm sure he'll listen to you."

James leaned back in his chair and pondered for a while. "You want me to ask him to recruit new agents? And send them in where? The Fortress of Shadows has been completely blocked off to anyone new. It's nearly impossible to get anyone, even Muggle agents, into Albania. Bangkok is a complete mess. The safe house was over run last month, and we suffered severe casualties. England is a complete disaster. The Ministry of Magic has added on extra security because they fear an invasion. The only reason the Bureau isn't making changes is because it's impossible to break in here."

"Nearly impossible," she said. "I'm not asking for anyone new, I'm asking for men who are already on the inside and want to play with us. Things are getting dicey right now. People are starting to back out, even though it's near the end."

"Near the end of what?" James asked.

"Precisely. He's winning, James. He's winning, and he knows it. This can work to our advantage if we can play him right. He's getting cocky, a little too confident. If I know Voldemort, then he'll slip up somewhere along the way. It's human nature to get so close to your goal, to be so sure of it, that your arrogance takes over. We just have to learn when he does this. I hope it's something big."

"What does he want?" James asked. Everyone had talked about Voldemort and his evil ways, but no one had really said what his goal is; there were only rumors.

"The same thing Hitler wanted in the second world war. The same thing Ghangis Kahn wanted: the drive of the Roman Empire. He wants total control. That's what drives all evil, I believe." 

"He wants to rule the world?" James asked.

She nodded. "Yes. I'd hate to think of what he'd do if he got there. But even more so, he has to become immortal so that he can rule the world for all time. That will come first, and my scarce sources are telling me that he's close. He's getting there. We can't let him get it, James. We'll lose everything if we do."

"Dumbledore," James started, but Ashika interrupted.

"Dumbledore is slow. He used to be a great sorcerer back in the forties. Then he started teaching, and he really mellowed out."

"Then why does Voldemort fear him? Why hasn't he tried to overtake Hogwarts?"

"Because he shares the same abilities. Dumbledore is, because of his great wisdom, his kind manner, his aura of power that he has maintained for all these years, very persuasive. He can change people's minds. He's annoyingly trustworthy of people, even of those who don't warrant it. It allows him, however, to turn people his way. He has a good name. People know what he has accomplished. He's cooking something up as we speak, actually."

James wondered if he should tell her about his letter, then decided against it. 

"I wouldn't be surprised if you were asked to join the Order of the Phoenix," she said, smirking at his expression. "I assume, of course, that you will join."

James tried to hide his shock that she knew, but was unable.

"I've been in this business for too long to not know some things. I have all your records. He likes you. He would have to in order to appoint someone with so many detentions as Head Boy. And he recommended you with such a glowing letter. He is forbidding any of you to tell of what happens in those meetings, but my door is always open."

"Well, I-"

"You'll be a good boy, won't you? That's fine with me, I guess. Get on that with Morris Burg, and let me know how things are going, though I might already know." Ashika stood up and left, just as quickly as she had come.

James pulled out a file containing the names of some field agents and flipped through for Morris Burg. He ran across a picture of him. He was a little man, but very sturdy. His hair was dark and curly and he had a rather large nose. James didn't really recognize him as one of the men he had rescued, but then again he wasn't really looking at faces.

James left the Operations Unit and went across the way to the Field Agent Security house. The female receptionist asked what he wanted.

"Where can I find Morris Burg?" James asked.

"Um," she said, searching through some files, "he's in Bulgaria right now."

"Why?" James asked. "Quidditch season is over."

"The after parties aren't," she said, raising her eyebrows.  
  


James found himself outside a small tavern that morning, just outside Ruse, Bulgaria. "Nice place," James said as he admired the broken windows boarded up with wooden planks. The door to the cavern squeaked when it opened, and a putrid smell emitted from its depths.

Artemis gripped James's shoulder. "Yeah, that's how I feel," James said. He went inside to find it rather dismal. A skinny, bald, elderly man was cleaning the insides of beer mugs at the bar. The tables were all of different sizes, with mismatched chairs, and the dirty wallpaper was peeling off. James walked up to the bar tender, careful not to touch anything.

"Is a Morris Burg here?" he whispered.

The man didn't say anything, but pointed to a corner of the bar where several men were playing poker. James nodded to the old man, then sauntered over. He suddenly felt out of place; he was dressed in blue robes, had a peregrine falcon on his shoulder, and was actually clean. He wasn't the only one to notice this.

"Who'd 'ell are you?" a Bulgarian asked.

"I'm looking for Morris Burg," James said.

A man with his back turned to James, suddenly turned around. He looked very drunk, and smelled it; his face was rough, and his eyes were bloodshot. "What do you want?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

"I need to speak with you," James said. "Alone."

"I'm busy right now," Morris said, turning back into the game.

James looked over his shoulder. "There's no point in continuing with only a pair of threes," he said, taking a quick step back.

Morris threw his cards down, pushed his seat back so that it scraped the floor, and stood up to meet James. "I hope you can entertain a better offer," he said.

"I'm not here to make you an offer, Mr. Burg. We need to talk alone."

"Who sent you?" he asked. James looked around the table and saw that all of the men were watching him.

"Ashika Narayan," he answered, silently.

Morris scoffed. "I'm through with that bitch. I dropped out of the Bureau right after my accident. I'm not into that crap anymore. You hear me, boy? I'm through!" He turned around and sat back down at his table. "New hand, boys," he said. No one argued with him.

"My name is James Potter, Mr. Burg. I saved your life last year because you were foolhardy and didn't think. The only reason you're alive is because I risked my life to save yours."

Morris turned around and squinted at James. "Is that how you get people's attention? You lay a guilt trip on them? Look, James Potter, I didn't ask to be saved by your good graces. If you want to keep out of trouble, just walk through those doors and leave me be. You hear me, son?"

"Don't call me son, you bloody coward," James said calmly.

Morris turned around to laugh with his friends, then got up suddenly, picked up his chair and swung it at James's face. Artemis flew off, but James felt the blow. He was struck so hard he fell to the floor with such a thud that the floor shook. James staggered to get back up, but he was hit again. James didn't move; he pretended like he was unconscious, but was actually going for his wand.

"No one calls me a coward!" he yelled.

"Averte Stature!" James bellowed as he thrust his wand at Morris.

Burg's eyes expanded. The spell hit him right in the gut, and he flew across the room, landing on a table and breaking its legs. James stood up, pointed his wand at the other poker players, then walked toward Morris Burg. James could feel blood trickling down the left side of his face; it was also swelling and making him a bit light headed. James held his wand to Morris's chest. "I need to ask for a favor, that's all."

Morris sighed, then nodded.  
  


"What a hangover this is going to be," Burg said, taking a sip of his third cup of coffee. "I always tell myself I'm gonna stop drinking, but I never do it."

James held an ice filled rag to the side of his face and started on his tea. "You didn't have to hit me so hard."

"So how old are you?" he asked.

"Twenty."

"Christ," Burg said, laughing. "You're just a child. What kind of favor could I possibly do for some kid?"

"I'm an operations director, Mr. Burg, try to have a little more respect. And it's not my idea. Ashika Narayan said you would be good to talk to."

"Did she now? That's irony for you. She was the one that advised me to leave the Bureau. So what does she want me to do for you all now?"

"Recruit new agents. We're running low, it seems."

"Ah," he said, breaking out into a large grin. "You need people who are already on the inside, is that right?"

"That's about it, yeah," James said.

"How much money am I getting for this?"

James choked. "Money? We're trying to save people, here."

"Really? So you're doing your job for free then?"

"Well, no, but... Fine, I'll ask Ashika about it. How much do you want? Make it reasonable, please."

"Oh, how about a thousand galleons. I can get you people. That's not the problem, see. A few of my Quidditch teammates are in that kind of game, but they're sticking their tails under their legs. This Dark Lord guy is really getting some influence, and a lot of these supporters that he's got are wanting more power, but a few want out. They're scared, they are. Lots of them are having their families put in danger. So getting these people won't be hard; what will be hard is finding someone who's actually useful. Someone that's more on the inside."

"Do you know anyone like that?" James asked.

"Nope. I'll find someone, though, don't you worry."

James sighed. "Well how long will that take you?"

He shrugged. "Don't worry so much. I'll get on it as soon as I can. I can be very persuasive some times," he said, then belched. "Excuse me."

James couldn't help but think that if he was putting trust into this man, they really were losing a war.

* * * * *

The great lecture hall was nearly full by the time Lily got there. She had to crawl over several people to get to a chair in the middle of the front row.

"Hey pretty baby," one young man said.

"Don't make me hex you," she mumbled as she landed in the seat.

"Lily!" a woman beside her said.

"Annie!" Lily said back. "Oh my gosh! We have this class together!"

"Yes! How are you?"

"I'm good. And you?"

"Great. It's so good to see you. I was hoping we'd have at least one class together. So how's James?"

"Good," she said. Her stomach lurched a bit. "He's working today. Are you seeing anyone new?"

"No one. Oh!" she said, slapping her head. "You must have had your baby. How is he, what did you name him, details, Lily, I need details!" 

Now she really felt a guilty lurch. "He's almost four weeks now. We named him Harry James. He's so cute, Annie. I have pictures of him," she said, rummaging through her bag for them. "Here's my baby," she said, showing her a picture.

"Aw," she cooed. "He doesn't look anything like you."

"No, he doesn't. It's so cute though, he'll stop crying if James blows in his face, and he always smells so good. He's not a squirmy baby. I held him all day once, just cradling him," she said, putting her arms in the right position and looking down at them. "He's such a good boy," she told Annie, feeling her eyes starting to swell. "He's such a good baby," she whispered.

"Lily," Annie said, holding Lily's arm, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said casually, wiping a tear away. "I just miss him, that's all."

"Where is he?"

"With my mother. He's really good with her, though, you know? He likes her; he's good with her. He's not too fussy. Sometimes all I have to do is just talk to him and hold him and he gets real quiet and looks up at me," she said, trying to stifle her tears again.

Annie looked concerned now. "How many classes are you taking today?" she asked.

"A few," she said, sobbing. "I'm just like this because it's post-pardon depression."

"No, I think you really miss him. You've had him with you, inside and out, for ten months now. This is hard for you."

"Do you think I'm being a bad mother?" she cried. People sitting close by started to listen in on the conversation. "I mean, do you think leaving him makes me a bad mom?" she asked, hysterically.

"No, Lily," Annie said soothingly.

"Oh, but I do," a woman in the row behind them said.

"Pipe down!" Annie yelled at her.

"Then you tell your friend to stop blubbering. She's making so much noise everyone can hear her."

"No one's making you listen," she snapped back. "Well," she said, talking to Lily again, "if his grandmother is watching him and James doesn't mind it, then I don't think there's anything wrong."

Lily put her hand over her mouth then began to wail so loudly, everyone in a twenty-foot radius of her stood and looked to see who was crying.

Then the doctor came in and walked to the front of the class, placed his briefcase on his desk, and started to talk. He was interrupted, however, by the distraught woman.

"Miss," he started. "Is there something terribly wrong?"

Annie spoke for her. "Sir, I believe she is experiencing strong hormonal flux, since she is a very new mother."

"Miss, will you please calm her down so we can get on with the lesson," he said. Annie nodded curtly then tried to silence Lily. She tried desperately to stop her wailing, but then she started to hyperventilate.

"Deep breaths," Annie told her. "Shh, deep breaths."

Lily nodded and obeyed. "Good," Annie told her. "Now calm down. Let's take some notes about this lecture so we can do the lab tomorrow."

"He wanted me to stay with Harry. He didn't want me to come here. He's so mad with me, and I hate it when he's mad at me!"

"Shut up!" the woman in the row behind them yelled.

"You shut up!" Annie yelled back.

"Ladies!" the doctor said. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave if you can't keep it quiet!"

Lily tried stifling it down a notch. 

Annie then took out her quill and notepad and took copious notes while Lily drew up a chart filled with pros and cons for finishing med school. 

In the pro column she had: fulfilling a dream, helping people, pay increase. 

On her con side she had: being without Harry, James's disapproval, being without Harry, missing the big baby moments like crawling, walking, talking, the first time he smiles, not being able to feed Harry, missing him grow up, putting most of the responsibility on James and on my parents, regretting later on the time lost with my family, risking divorce from my husband, suffering from separation anxiety, Harry's first calling my mother "mama" instead of me, Harry thinking I care more about my job and strangers over him.

The words of her mother came floating into her mind as she looked at the uneven list. Should she drop out? Was she really all right without Harry? Then her own questions started to pop up. Would it get any better as the time ticked on, or would these feelings get worse as he got older? Would he think she cared more about her job rather than him? New doctors were always working and on call. She would be at work more than with her family. And he'd only be a few years old, right? Children don't think like adults do, he wouldn't understand her desire to fulfill a dream. The only thing he would want is to have her around, right?

Lily passed her hands through her hair. The doctor was talking about the cadaver they would be examining tomorrow. So, Lily, she thought to herself, what do you want to do? Look at a dead person whose problems are over, or be with your baby, whose life has just begun? It was one of those decisions that reminded her that she was no longer a child, but a full-blown adult with a baby and a husband. Lily wanted to have both, but she also knew that it was impossible. James was right. That thought killed her because she was always right, not him. But this time, she admitted to herself, he had a point. 

For the rest of the lecture she wondered. If James hadn't said a word this morning, if he had wished her a good day and kissed her goodbye, like they always did before, would she still feel this way? A pang in the region of her stomach said 'yes' she would because the fact of the matter was she had left her baby with someone who was not his mother. Oh sure, the grandmother, but it was still leaving him with someone else. Was it really fair? Thinking about it, she never asked to be pregnant, she never wanted a baby this soon. They had a calendar, they did. They were going to have a baby after she became a doctor, when the timing was perfect. They were going to have children when they were used to being married a bit longer, when they were old enough to take on this kind of responsibility, not now. Now was all wrong.

'But it's not Harry's fault,' she could hear her mother and James say. 'Why should he be punished for your mistake? He didn't ask to be conceived; he didn't ask to be brought into the world, dear. You did that. Why must Harry take the fall for your error?'

Then Jade came floating into her mind. Certainly Jade would advise her to drop out for Harry. 'Lily,' she would say, her eyes alight and glowing, 'you created a life. I mean think about it. Your love for James and his love for you created a new life. You have a baby, Lily, a baby. You are the most important thing in his life right now, and will be for many, many years. Don't you want to care for him and love him all the time? You can be a doctor in a few years. Drop out now, with your credits, and go back when he's at Hogwarts. You can't ever get those years back with him, but school, and the reward of being a doctor, will always be there.'

Lily wiped tears out of her eyes and off her cheeks with the end of her robes.

"Are you okay?" Annie whispered.

Lily nodded. Annie looked at the list on Lily's notepad and smirked. "Med school will always be here, you know," she said. "He's such a cute baby. Knowing you, you'll think about him every second you're not with him."

"If you have any questions," the doctor said, "my office is open in the afternoons." People were starting to get out of there seats and shuffle out. Lily looked at her watch; it was ten minutes after twelve.

"I've gotta go," Lily said, putting her chart away in her bag. 

"Where to?" Annie asked.

"My parents's house. I've gotta see him."

"Lily," Annie said, holding her back, "I know I'm not in your situation, but you're young. You can be a doctor whenever you want. This school will always be here, and there will always be a need for good doctors."

Lily started to cry again. "I was never this emotional in my life," she said, throwing her hands in the air. "Look at me! I didn't realize I could carry this much water!"

"Go be with your baby," Annie said, giving her a big, strong hug. "Give him a kiss for me?" she asked.

Lily nodded. "I'll see you around," she said.

"Sure you will. Bye Lil."

"Bye," she said back with a weak smile. "Good luck."

"You too."

They went separate ways, Annie towards her next class, and Lily outside so she could Disapparate to her parents's manor. She reappeared right outside the front door, to be polite, and knocked.

Her mother opened the door, a wailing baby in her arms.

"What's the matter?" Lily asked, rushing inside and taking Harry.

"He's hungry. He won't take the bottle so he hasn't eaten for hours, Lily."

Lily started to unbutton her blouse under her robes. "Could you go get a towel, please?"

"Yes," she said, then went down the hall.

"I'm sorry," she said to Harry, whose face was red; tears were in the wrinkles of his face. "I know you're starving."

"Here you go," Amanda said, giving Lily a hand towel. Lily put it on her other breast, then gave Harry the free one. He stopped crying immediately.

"That's better," Amanda said, sitting down on her couch. "Did you know he wouldn't take the bottle?"

"I've never heard of that before," Lily said, sitting down next to her mother. "But I didn't try it on him ahead of time, I guess, because I didn't have to."

"He's was crying for hours. I tried everything for him, but he just wouldn't take the bottle. I should have remembered to tell you that, because you didn't like the bottle either. He needs authenticity. He's much happier now," she said, watching Harry suckle away.

"He's really hungry," Lily said, smiling as she looked down at him. "I missed him so much. The only thing I could think about was that I wasn't with him. And James...he doesn't want me to leave Harry with you. As I think about it, I don't really want to either, not after this morning. I drew up a list, a pro and con list, during class. I didn't even listen to my lecture, and my class before that was spent wondering if he was okay and if James was going to walk out on me." Lily went into her bag and pulled out the chart to give to her mother. "Some of those reasons sound a little...silly."

Amanda scanned over them. "Silly? Which ones? They're all true."

"You think so?" she asked, frowning a little.

"Yes. So the con side is much heavier than the pro. Does that mean you're going to quit?"

"I'm not sure. I feel better now," Lily said, leaning her head back.

"You feel better because he's with you. Lily," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose, "leaving your baby is the hardest thing in the world, especially if you know you shouldn't. The hardest times in my life were always when I had to leave you somewhere, or take you to your first day of school. I cried, of course, because you were going on and growing up. But I was with the both of you every day, and it's something I will never regret. We never needed money, so we were happy with our situation. And from what I gather, James has quite an inheritance that he is managing very well, using it only when needed. You're not hurting for money, Lily. You've never been a very materialistic type of girl, so it really surprises me that you're going to all these lengths to be a doctor."

"It's because I want to be one, mum," she said.

"Then you should have considered that before you rushed into marriage."

Lily stared. "That's what James said."

"Your husband is a very smart man. He seems, and pardon me if I sound a little rude, like he understands the rules of marriage a little better than you do."

"What?" Lily said, her mouth open in shock.

Amanda simply made a casual wave of her hand. "It's true."

"No it's not. I know the rules."

"Do you? What are they?"

Lily closed her mouth and pondered for a moment. "Love," she said, "honor, respect, obey-"

"Oh so you know them, but you're just not following them. I have no doubt that you love him, but are you honoring, respecting, and obeying him? It has to go both ways, Lily, and so far he seems to be the only one who's abiding by the rules. Would you agree?"

"No," she said curtly.

"Then what, dear? When was the last time you honored, respected, and obeyed him? Certainly not today, so that's out of the question. So when was it?"

Lily cast her mind out to think, but thoughts like 'I can't believe I'm doing this,' popped into her head. But as those sardonic reflections passed out of her mind, and she was truly trying to think of an occasion where she did as he wished. She couldn't think of anything. Lily looked down at Harry, still suckling away. His little hands were holding onto her breast in a soft yet desperate type of way.

"So...?" her mother said.

"I'm not sure right now," Lily answered back.

"Don't you think James could think of several occasions where he's given you the steering wheel? Lily," she said, shaking her head, "you know I love you very, very much, more than I probably should. But you need to get your priorities sorted out, because right now you're faltering. Let me ask you this: why did you get married?"

Lily let her shoulders fall a little. "Because I love him."

"And how would you define that love?"

Lily contemplated for a while. "I want to be with him. I want him to be happy. I want what's best for him. I care a great deal for him, mum."

"And you can say it to him all day long, but as the old adage goes, 'actions speak louder than words.' Show him, Lily. Show him you want what makes him happy. And now you have another one to love. Does the same definition apply to Harry?"

"Yes," Lily whispered, running a hand over Harry's delicate head.

"Good," Amanda said softly. "Now tell me if your love for your husband and your child conflict with your ambition. It's simple math."

Lily pulled Harry up and started to pat his back, supporting his unsteady head with her other hand. "Yes," she said, after he burped. And, much to her chagrin, she started to cry again. "Why am I crying all the time?" she asked.

Amanda laughed. "Having babies really puts your emotions into overdrive, doesn't it?"

"So what do I do?" she asked.

"Withdraw from school. Stay at home, and do the hardest and most important job in the world; be a good mommy."

There was something in the way she said that, something totally genuine and true, that made Lily relax for the first time in such a long while. She looked at her mother smiling, and suddenly it hit her, 'this woman spent years of her life raising me and Petunia, and to this day she has no complaints, no regrets, and no thoughts of ever changing it. She raised two little girls into young women, and we are both, now, young mothers.'

Lily balanced Harry with one arm, while the other worked to fasten her blouse back into the proper position. Then she cradled him, watching as his eyes slowly droop down.

"He's probably exhausted. He's been awake since you left, screaming most of the time, and now he's all full and warm. You two should go home and wait for your knight in shining armor to come home to you."

Lily smiled at her. "Thanks."

"Oh," she replied, blushing, "what are mothers for. Goodbye, sweetie, and goodbye to you Harry. Take good care of your mommy, okay?"

But Harry was quickly approaching dreamland, and didn't even crack an eyelid as his grandmother kissed him. Amanda helped Lily fasten up her baby Apparation pouch, packed Harry's bags, strapped them onto Lily, and said goodbye again. Lily smiled, still teary eyed, and Disapparated.

* * * * *

James returned to his office after visiting the medical sector. His face felt fine, but he was drained. It was only three o'clock, and he was worn out completely. He crashed in his large backed chair and put his feet up on the desk. 

"Not sleeping on the job, are you?" someone with an Indian accent said.

James opened his eyes and put his feet squarely on the ground. "Resting," he said to her.

Ashika cocked one eyebrow. "I see. Why don't you call it a day and go home to your family. Come back early tomorrow when you're fresh and useful."

"I don't think my family's at home yet," he said, trying not to grind his teeth as he said it.

"Yes they are," she answered. "Trust me, I know."

"Oh, yeah? How?"

"There was a letter received by the Dean of the London Medical Institute of Magic, just an hour ago. It was from your wife requesting an appointment in a few days. She inquires about leaving school and coming back in eleven years. That's what I know about it. Close your mouth," she said, pointing. James was so astonished he didn't realize what he looked like.

"H-How do you--"

Ashika smirked, shook her head, and left the office.

James didn't know if he should leap for joy or simply think it over. He felt more like leaping, but he didn't know if it was appropriate. But he should always obey his superior, and she practically ordered him to go home... James got up, called for his falcon, and almost skipped to the Apparation chamber where he Disapparated.

The apartment was extremely quiet considering there was a baby in the vicinity. Artemis launched off James's shoulder and flew to her perch. He looked around; Lily wasn't in the living room, the kitchen, dining room, or the nursery. He took a deep breath, then opened his bedroom door, slowly. From what he could see as he was peeking inside, Lily was sitting cross-legged on the bed, going through several papers. She looked calm and composed. The basinet was beside her; Harry must be inside. James opened the door and entered.

Lily looked up and smiled benignly.

"Hey," he said formally.

"Hello," she replied.

James cleared his throat. "So, how was your day?" he asked, still formal.

"It was all right," she replied in the same tone. "How was yours?"

"Busy," he said. "But I suppose that's why they call it work," he said, hoping to make her laugh. 

"I suppose," she said. She went back to flipping through her things.

James put his hands on his hips. "What are you looking at?" he asked.

"Some of my stuff."

"How's Harry?" he asked, growing tired of their game.

"Sleeping."

"And how are you?"

"Tired."

"Lily that's it," he said, dropping his shoulders. "I can't take anymore of this nonsense. Can we talk about what happened this morning?"

Lily looked up. She had on a face of superiority, one that James loathed. "What's left to discuss?" she asked.

"Don't you have anything to say in return?" he asked.

"Not right now," she said, "but I'll keep thinking it over if you want."

"Why do you have to be so difficult sometimes? Do you want me to apologize for yelling at you? Fine. Lily, I'm really sorry that I yelled. I lost control of my temper and I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to holler at you like I did. But you're going to have to take some kind of responsibility here."

"So I made you yell at me?" she asked.

"No," he said, rolling his eyes. "I just got really angry because of the way you were acting. I'm sorry, okay?" he said. "I really am. I felt terrible for some of the things I said, but more for how I said them. Can you forgive me? Can you find it in your heart to let it go and still love me," he said, crawling onto the bed toward her, "for the man who has been your slave for many years?"

Lily shut her eyes. "You haven't been my slave," she mumbled.

He inched closer, his face close to hers. "I haven't?" he whispered, kissing her cheeks lightly.

"Not really," she whispered back. "Maybe more like an indentured servant," she said, caressing his neck. She could feel him laughing. James pulled back and sat down in front of her. "I did something today," she said, not looking at him but fiddling with a blanket in her hands.

"People do do things during the day," he noted, taking the blanket away from her. "So what did you do?"

"Well," she started, "I followed my schedule like I planned on."

"And?" James said.

"And I didn't take a single note, listen to a single word, or think about anything medically related. The only thing I thought about was Harry, my not being with him, and you."

"So I came last?" he asked, smirking.

Lily smiled and looked up at him. "No, well sort of. I drew up a pro and con list, if you can believe that," she said, showing it to him.

"Only you would," he said, reading it. It didn't take him long to finish it, but he sighed once he completed it. "So, your decision is?"

Lily took a deep breath and folded her hands in her lap. "I'm quitting."

James tried to look upset, he really did. He wanted to frown and say, "Oh, Lily, I'm sorry you had to make this kind of decision," but he didn't. If he had he wouldn't have been true to himself. He figured, by the smirk on her face, that he wasn't frowning. "Lily," he said, "I'm proud of you."

She shook her head.

"No, really," he said, clasping her hands, "I am really proud of you. Let's be honest, okay? You are really stubborn and quitting must have been so hard for you."

"You're just as stubborn as I am," she said. 

"Whatever, I'm still glad you did this."

"Yeah," she sighed, avoiding his eyes. "I wrote a letter to the Dean. I was thinking that I could go back in eleven years when he's at Hogwarts. That is," she started, "if you would be good with that," she mumbled.

"Pardon?" James said, though he had heard her. "I missed the last part, could you repeat it for me?"

She rolled her eyes. "That is," she said just a hair louder, "if you would be fine with it." 

"If I would be fine with it?" he repeated. "I think that could be arranged."

"Good," she said. "That's good."

"Is there anything else you would like to say?" he asked. "Anything at all?"

Lily knew where he was going with this. "Like what?" she asked.

James laughed. "Like what? Like maybe I was right about something, that's what."

"I would have made that decision if you hadn't screamed at me this morning," she said.

"Oh really?" he said, his eyes popping.

"Really," she replied. 

"You can't admit that I'm right and you're wrong, can you? It's eating you up inside, isn't it? Just say it, Lily. I'll only make you say it once I promise, but you have to admit it."

"I don't think anyone is right or wrong in this situation," she said. James started sniggering. "I don't."

"You can't say it. You just can't admit that I am right. Say it, Lily. Tell me I'm right."

"No," she said.

"Tell me I'm right," he said, moving closer to her.

"You can't make me," she said, one corner of her mouth starting to rise.

"I can and I will," James said, also smirking. "Say it or else."

"Oh, Mr. Tough Guy," she mocked. "You can't make me because you are a gentleman, and gentlemen treat their wives with love and respect."

"Well," James said, moving closer still, "I guess that means I'll have to be unconventional," he said.

Lily started to cogitate when he launched for her and knocked her back on the bed, then started to tickle her. "Say it!" he commanded.

Lily laughed so loudly she knew Harry would wake up in a second. "Stop it!" she managed through her giggles.

"Say it," he said again, laughing at her.

"No," she mouthed. She tried hitting him or pushing him off, but he was too strong.

"I'll tickle you to death if you don't say I'm right," he told her, his face inches from hers. "I'll do it Lily, you know I will."

"Stop, wait," she said, "wait." He did as requested, but kept his hands on her stomach. "I have to catch my breath first."

"Two words. You don't have to catch your breath."

"Ew, your breath stinks," she chuckled.

He grinned. "It can't be as bad as yours. Now say it or I'll attack you."

"Harry is going to wake up," she sang.

"He probably already has," he sang back. "Now tell me I'm right or I'll do it again."

"Wait," she said, passing a hand through his hair. "What's the one really great thing about married people fighting? We're missing it."

"No, you're delaying that action. Come on, two words. Or three; James, you're right. Go on, say them. I'll even let you repeat after me. James," he said.

"James," she repeated.

"You are," he said.

"You are," she mimicked.

"Right."

"A brat," she said. "Wait, wait, wait," she said as he started to tickle her again. "One more time, one more time."

"Just once more," he said. Lily nodded and took off his glasses. "James," he said.

"James," she said, smiling, both of her hands on his neck.

"You are."

"You are," she said.

"Right."

"Really cute," she replied, then kissed him.

"You are the queen of manipulation," he told her. "But you can't change the subject. We are discussing my rightness, not how handsome I am. Now, you say I'm right or else."

"But you are really cute. And you're such a good daddy," she said.

James sighed and laid his head in between her neck and shoulders. "How many years did it take you to do this kind of thing," he mumbled in her ear.

Lily giggled. "Many," she replied. "But in all seriousness, if it's that important to you I'll say it. But only this once, you hear me, never again."

"Except when I'm right again," he replied. He moved so his forehead was on hers. "All right, I'm ready."

"You were right," she said quickly. "There, done."

He grinned. "Now we can make up properly," he whispered, kissing her lips.

"After we put Harry in the nursery. I don't want to damage his psyche by listening to us," she replied.

"He won't remember," he whispered again, moving his lips down her neck.

"I know he won't, but I will. And who knows, what if he does remember. Besides, he's going to start crying and are you going to be the one who takes care of him?"

James rolled off and Lily got up. "I'll be right back," she said. She picked up Harry, who was awake but not crying, and took him into the nursery to lay him down in his crib. "Be a good boy," she said.

"Yeah, no interruptions," James said. He put his arms around her waist and started to pull her out of the room. "You'll understand when you're married, son." Lily let him pull her out and give him a bit of control. If I told you anymore, then I would remove their privacy.

* * * * *

The setting sun stained the sky a memorable pink, with its marshmallow clouds floating in it like a strawberry shake. The breeze was pleasantly cool, but it didn't arouse those annoying goose pimples. The trees swayed just a little, like they were apprehensive about the coming night, and the people out on the street were struck with a feeling of pleasant simplicity.

Sirius Black jumped onto his Harley Davidson, revved the engine loudly, and sped off so fast, several cars had to slam on their breaks so they didn't ram into him. He chuckled as he heard their tires squeal in protest. He slid his sunglasses up his nose, smirked as he gazed at his reflection in the mirror, then changed gears to accelerate to a very moderate speed of eighty miles per hour. Sirius darted in between many stopped cars on the street, and eventually slipped into a deserted alleyway where a flatbed trailer was parked. It was in such a way, however, that it made for a perfect ramp. Sirius flashed his toothy grin, bumped his motorcycle up just one more gear, then hit the trailer and flew.

Then he tapped a button he had installed on one of the handlebars. It did one very nice thing-it broke the rules of gravity, so that Sirius was now flying. The cars and people on the ground shrank as he ascended into the now purple sky. The clouds left tiny droplets on his leather jacket as he passed through them, and the breeze was steadily getting cooler.

Sirius stayed high as to avoid the Muggle eye, and flew to Birmingham to check on the situation at the Potter residence. He had a strange feeling that turmoil was looming in the atmosphere, but then again, since it was evening, the condition could prove well again.

He landed on a country road then sped off to their place.

Once he arrived, he removed his sunglasses, parked the bike, then walked up and knocked on the door, out of habit. He heard hurried footsteps.

"Sirius," James said, opening the door. His hair was very disheveled and he was looking quite flushed. "What can I do for you?" he asked.

Sirius grinned. "I was just wondering how everything is over here."

"It's good," he quickly replied.

"Uh huh," he responded, looking his friend up and down. "You know you buttoned your shirt up wrong," he said, pointing.

"Oops," he chuckled. "Yeah, everything is good. We're good. H-how are you?"

"Fine. So you and Lily are making up?"

"Yes."

"Well then, I'll let you go finish making up," Sirius said, smirking. "I'll see you Saturday, then."

"Right," James said, closing the door, "Saturday it is. Thanks."

"You'll owl Jade and tell her to come over and sit for Harry?" Sirius asked.

"Yep, bye now."

"Have fun," Sirius said. He laughed his entire journey back to his home. 

His apartment was, as it usually was, a total pigpen. He often thought about cleaning it up, but then something would require his attention. Today was no different. He had several letters piled up on his sofa, which was currently serving as a hamper. He had one from his parents, a paycheck from the Bureau, some bills, and a letter from Jade. He smiled when he saw this one. She had drawn a falcon on the back of the envelope. He opened it.

Sirius,

As I am sure you are aware, Lily and James's second wedding anniversary is just two weeks away. Knowing Lily, she'll insist on staying home, and knowing James he'll listen to her. I, however, have a friend who owns a really nice resort with great restaurants. She has offered me a really great deal for a couple, and I wanted to give it to them. Having a baby is tough work and they should have a break for a few hours. So here's where you come in. I need to know what days James has off, and how long they would be willing to stay away. I'll have to work on Lily and the Harry situation. Let me know if you're willing to commit to this little operation of mine.

~Jade

Sirius grinned, summoned paper from his bedroom, a quill from the floor, and ink from the kitchen, and wrote back.

Jade,

We should really coordinate this in person. I believe James has the eighth off, but I'll check. Hope to see you soon.

Sirius

He attached the letter to B'ellana and sent her off.  
  
* * * * *

With her head tucked under his chin, her eyes shut, and her left arm draped over his chest, Lily started to doze off. Perhaps it was the summer weather, but James was also feeling the sandman coming on. He sighed, covering her arm with his. Of course, this didn't last long, for all good things must come to an end.

Lily opened her eyes and pulled her head up.

"What s'matter?" James asked.

"He's gonna cry," she said wearily. She got out of bed and started to get dressed.

"How do you know that?" he asked, groggily.

"Woman's intuition. I'll be back," she said, taking his shirt. And sure enough, as soon as Lily walked into the nursery, Harry began to cry. She picked him up, felt his diaper, then took him to the changing table, where she quickly took off the diaper, cleaned him up, and slapped a new one on. Then she picked him up again, sat down in her rocking chair, and began nursing him. Then all was quiet again.

James shuffled in a few moments later. He sat down on the floor and rested his head on her knees. 

"Why are you here?" she asked, yawning.

"I'm helping," he said. "Can't you tell?" 

"Silly me," she said, rocking back and forth.

"Oh," he started, looking up at her. "We got a letter from Dumbledore. You really need to read it. Maybe now wouldn't be such a hot time."

"Probably not. You know, maybe this won't be such a bad thing," she said.

"What's that?"

"Staying here. Only, I don't think I want to raise a boy in an apartment."

"Is that a coy way of telling me you want to buy a house?"

"It's not so coy. But yeah. We could have a swing set in the back yard, and a porch where we could sit and watch him play with his friends. Maybe a garden with hydrangeas, white roses, and Easter lilies. And a fountain with angels. And he could have a room upstairs with blue walls, with pictures of us hung up. And the Blacks could live across from us, and we could have picnics together."

James smiled. "And just this morning you would have thought it sexist," he said. "I think most people would be happy with the simple life. Swing sets and corn-dogs. But I think Sirius would be afraid of being married that quickly."

"Sirius is going to get married sooner than we think. The more he resists it, the easier it will be to chop him down and send him to the tree mill. He just needs some encouragement and a desire."

"Good luck with that," he said, chuckling.

"I bet you he's going to want to get married."

"Another bet, huh? All right. What are the stakes?"

"Within three years, Sirius gets engaged. If I win, then you have to serve me breakfast in bed for a whole month."

"And if he doesn't, then you have to admit you're wrong and let me order you around for a month. Deal?"

Lily grinned, looked down at Harry, and nodded. "Deal."

"Oh, and one more thing. You can't be setting him up with people you know, just to win. He has to do this of his own free will, Lily."

"Yeah, yeah," she said, wiping excess milk off of Harry's face. "Then you can't go breaking it off to win. No interference."

"None. Is he done yet?"

"No, he's hungry. No one's making you sit around here." She pulled Harry off her breast, and put him on her chest so she could burp him. "Now he has the hiccups. Just go to bed and let me handle this."

"You have really changed since this morning. I'm so glad. Night," he said, getting up and leaving.

"Night," she replied. So she was left alone with her baby son, who was making small burp-like sounds as she patted him on the back. His hiccups were being severely stubborn, but he didn't cry about them. Lily held him in front of her; his eyes were wide and looking to a corner of the room. "I wonder who you are," she said, just as another hiccup shook him. She wasn't expecting an answer, of course, she just mused. "You'll be handsome, I know that much. You'll be just as handsome as your dad is. The girls will be all over you, you know."

He wriggled his legs and looked at the ceiling.

"You'll hate girls until you hit your teen years, it's common. Unless you're like Sirius in which case girls are more like a goal. But you won't be like that," she said, shaking her head. She lay him down in the crook of her arms, and cradled him. She didn't know why, but she really felt like singing to him. He looked comfortable enough, and she certainly didn't mind holding him, but for some reason she felt like humming. 

She cast her mind out for a tune to hum. She smiled as she thought back on when James set her up to sing to her entire class, and that song... She had only heard it once before, but it stuck with her. The words drifted back into her mind...she could hear the piano playing softly behind her...she let her voice filter through her lips so it came out quiet, gentle, and soothing. Harry looked back to her, his eyes sagging under the weight of a pleasant lassitude. 

She smiled as she mumbled the words she sang two years before, a warm tingly feeling took residence inside her. She started to rock him, thinking it was only the right thing to do.

His hands scrunched up into small fists, and he stretched his toes, then shut his eyes. Only a few short minutes passed, then he was sound asleep. Lily bent her head down and lightly kissed him. With great ease, she stood up and placed him down in his crib, laying a light blanket over him and placing two stuffed animals around his head so he couldn't roll over.

"Night, Harry," she whispered. "Sweet dreams." 

* * * * *

She had gone out for the evening, probably to her shop to close up. He slipped into her bedroom and started to search her drawers. The first one contained nothing but underwear. The next was full of socks. The rest were comprised of strange, home-made robes. No ring.

He looked in her jewelry box and found several gold rings, some rather large necklaces, cumbersome earrings, and loud bracelets. No silver ring. He searched under her bed, in between her bed; he looked under the sofa, under the cushions of the sofa, in the chair, under the chair, in the guitar. No ring.

He performed a sweeping charm over the carpet, but it wasn't there either. His heart started to beat out of control. If it was her father's, if it was precious to her, then where was it?

Remus looked at his watch; it was seven o'clock. He was due at Hogwarts in half an hour. He still had to go home and change, but he couldn't take his mind off that ring, and he didn't know why. One part of him kept saying he was being ridiculous; it's just a damn ring. The other side of him was telling him to keep looking for it. But it wasn't here.

Remus scrawled out a quick note to Sonja, left it on her bed, then Disapparated to his flat. "What's black obsidian?" he asked his reflection as he combed his hair. "Who uses that stone and for what purpose? It's not a gem, why's it in a ring? The dragon. Jade said it's used to protect, or to keep out. That makes no sense. Abner had it, but what did he do? How did he die?"

"How the heck should I know?" his mirror answered back in a dusty voice.

"I was talking to myself," Remus told it.

"Well tell yourself you're an idiot, and end the conversation," the mirror answered back. Remus, who didn't want to argue with one of his bathroom appliances, kept quiet but didn't let his mind rest. He went to the closet and pulled out his best robes. Then he set out for Hogsmeade.

He Apparated into the village then walked briskly to the castle. Walking into the entrance hall flooded his brain with memories, good times he would never forget, and bad times that actually turned out good. 

The letter didn't tell him where to go, so he didn't really know what to do.

"Remus?" a familiar voice called. He turned around.

"James? Lily? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"We were going to ask the same of you," Lily said, smiling. "We haven't seen you in so long, it seems!"

"I know. I'm sorry I haven't seen the youngest for a while."

"He's getting bigger," James said with a grin, "and I know he wants to smile, I can tell!"

"So you guys got the letter, too?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. Sirius got one as well. Why didn't you say you got it?" Lily questioned.

"I wasn't sure we were supposed to go showing people," he said. "Did Peter get one?"

James shrugged. "I haven't spoken with him in a long time."

"Me neither. Oh well, it's Peter. Do you have any idea where we're supposed to be?"

"No, it didn't say. It didn't say the time, or the specific day, actually. Dumbledore is a funny man," James commented. "Gosh it seems so long ago that we were here. I feel really old."

Lily took his hand and agreed.

"Remus, old friend!" Sirius said as he walked up behind them. "It's been a while. You got the invite as well, eh?"

"Yes-"

"Ah," Albus Dumbledore said, as he walked into the entrance hall with a pleasant smile, "I am not surprised to see you all here. Nevertheless, I am glad you came."

The four of them fell silent as they listened to his words. "The new students are to arrive on Monday, the first, so there aren't any trouble-making first years hanging about," he said, grinning to them. "The rest of our group is here. You will follow me," he said, turning, then walking down the hall towards a door.

The four of them exchanged peculiar glances, then followed in his wake. Dumbledore led them down a series of corridors, even some that James, Sirius, and Remus had never traversed. Many of them seemed as though they were built on the rolling hills, for the floors were uneven and sloping. It was very dark, as well, but Dumbledore didn't provide light for them, he just walked ahead.

Then they approached the final corridor. It was round, with many doors, blue light emitting from the cracks at the bottom and sides. Dumbledore opened one of them, and let them walk inside.

Five people were sitting at a long, shiny topped, wooden table. The room was small, oval in shape, with a high ceiling. Candles with blue flames flanked the stone walls, giving it a cool glow. There were five empty chairs, one of which was at the head of the table. Dumbledore sat there.

James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily took the remaining four without saying a word.

"We are all here," he said calmly, surveying the nine other members. "Shall we make the introductions? To my right we have Professor Minerva McGonnagal, deputy Headmistress of this school," he said, smiling at her. She nodded to the others. 

"Next to her we have Arabella Figg, a graduate of this school six years back." Arabella smiled warmly, and made Sirius's jaw open. She was a very beautiful woman, with golden blonde hair, sparkling blue-green eyes, and rosy cheeks. 

"Next in line is Mr. Mundungus Fletcher, our Ministry representative." Mr. Fletcher looked to be in his thirties or so, for his hair was going slightly gray. He also had a large round nose, puffy cheeks, and big ears. His smile crinkled his eyes to slits, and he smelled a little of smoke.

"Mrs. Lily Potter, who graduated second in her class. She is also a new mother." Lily blushed. 

"Mr. James Potter, who graduated first in his class. He is an Operations Director at the International Wizard Bureau of Investigation, and a very new father."

Then Dumbledore looked to the left side of the table. "Here we have Mrs. Jill Prewitt of Prewitt Manufacturing, and her husband, Mr. Matthew Prewitt, who is obviously president and CEO of the company." Lily, James, and Sirius had seen Jill Prewitt once before. She was a thin woman, older, and had a look of energy about her. Her husband looked a little more mellowed out. His hair was completely gray, but his mustache was still black. He nodded to all of them. 

"Mr. Sirius Black, who graduated third in his class, is an Analyst at the IWBI." He grinned, especially in the direction of Arabella Figg. 

"And Mr. Remus Lupin who works in the Law Enforcement department. He could do much better, only the bigotry of our public will not allow such a thing." Remus looked straight at the wall.

"Now that we are all acquainted, I assume that you would like to know why you are all here, why I selected you, and the purpose of this gathering." He pushed his spectacles up, leaned over the table, and folded his hands. "Let me begin with this: I know each and everyone of you. You are some of the brightest people I have met, and also the most determined. Each of you also possesses a great degree of courage, an admirable trait. But you have all experienced the loss of a friend, or family member to Voldemort. You know what he is capable of; you have seen his devastation. You know that he is real, not just a bedtime monster. You know he is dangerous, and you must know that he is succeeding.

"Voldemort is powerful, which is to his great advantage. He is persuasive, cunning, and no doubt one of the most talented wizards of all time. He has countless supporters, many of whom are unidentified and therefore most dangerous. His location is concealed by powerful charms, impenetrable spells, and fear. He knows our weaknesses.

"It isn't any wonder why he is making such a move; who is going to stop him? Several of his supporters, even, are frightened of his increasing power. But those who wish to leave him are murdered. The IWBI is hard at work to find new agents to penetrate his lair, known as the Fortress of Shadows. Our Mr. Potter is working diligently to make that a success. But until we have more information, there is nothing we can do.

"Voldemort doesn't follow etiquette, procedures of law, or simple rules. Though he should be required to, he doesn't. That, of course, is one of the problems...for us. The Dark Lord has the upper-hand in everything. He is secret, he has no rules to follow, and he is a leader amongst thieves. He has no walls or boundaries constricting his will. We do. The Ministry of Magic seems to be more concerned with keeping to the rules rather than taking action. Public opinion dictates their actions, and as we all know, the public can be foolish. Even while horrendous acts of violence are playing out, the public wants to keep to the bureaucratic rules for they believe in them. They trust their officials. However unfortunate, it is thought by me, and by several others in the intelligence community, not to mention eyewitness accounts from spies past and present, that many Ministry officials are already Death Eaters. Those in the Ministry, and the IWBI are gathering support. Voldemort has tainted and invaded our very leadership.

"So I am proposing just what you are probably assuming. Voldemort, no doubt, will get wind of the Order, if he hasn't already. Ashika Narayan is already aware of its existence, and she is having a mole problem. But to everyone else, the most we will be is a rumor, a simple quandary. We will play on Voldemort's terms. Secrecy is our motto; efficiency is our practice. We must take this into our own hands before this world falls into his. We will fight against him the best way each of us knows how. This will not be a clean run, nor will it be without casualties. Each of you is aware of the dangers and the risks of fighting this war, but you know you must." He looked to each of them. The room was now just as silent as it had been when they first entered it. "He will continue as long as there is a fight to be won. It's time we stopped giving into his satanic ills, and giving him the lives of our spouses, parents, and children. Public opinion will have no meaning here for they will know nothing of us." He looked to the Prewitts. "Prewitt Manufacturing has a series of business, including the making of materials for robes, the growing and harvesting of trees for the Nimbus line, among other such things. Jill is very active in this fight, as is Matthew. They have lost a daughter to Voldemort and will do anything to bring him down. They have therefore, opened a new business where much of their funds will go. We are this business, but to the public eye it's a book binding plant. The Prewitts are the funding for this operation."

Then he looked to Mundungus Fletcher. "Mundungus works for the Ministry as of now, but he has a wide knowledge of dangerous spells used to fight and defend. He will teach all of you how to battle and what to block. It is important for all of you to know spells such as these, for Voldemort's Death Eaters have a wide knowledge. We must eliminate as many advantages he has as possible.

"Arabella," he said, looking to her, "is our mistress of disguise. She has a knack for taking on different forms for an extended amount of time. It is a very rare gift to act like someone else, in a totally different shell. She will do much of our undercover work and intelligence gathering.

"James," he said, looking to him with warmth in his eyes, "we are counting on you to organize covert missions, and to break your oath to the IWBI and share information with us. Ashika Narayan has inside accounts around Hogwarts, why must it only go one way?"

James nodded slowly, and took a deep breath.

"Sirius," he started, "you will write the reports, tell us the accounts, bring back information from your place of work, and share with us. We must have your analytical expertise. We need to know what we're doing and what to do next. You have to study what certain things mean, and research the significance."

"All right," he responded.

"Remus, let us know what's going on in the Law Enforcement agency, but more importantly, get in contact with other werewolves and stop them from going over to Voldemort's side. I'm sure you know that is a problem. Most of them feel unwanted and are tired of exclusion from our side, so they go where they are wanted. Keep an eye on them."

"And Lily. In order to keep this Order completely secret, no one will go to the hospital for injuries, which are inevitable. I trust that with two years of the basics, you will be able to handle most anything. I would advise that you read up on all the available books and learn all that you can about medicine, injuries, and how to cure them. Your participation is crucial." He smirked to her, then winked. Lily felt a lurch in her stomach. What else did he want to know, she wondered.

"Are there any questions?" he asked..

"Yeah," James said, "I've got a few questions. How are we supposed to communicate to each other?"

"It will seem archaic, but it's necessary. All owls will come to me, for Hogwarts is very safe. I will relay the messages accordingly. We will convene here once a month, as well. Minerva and I will lead the Order, as always. If something should happen to me, she will take command. If I am unavailable, you can contact her."

"And what is our first assignment?" James asked. "Now that we all know what our jobs are, what is our job?"

Dumbledore smiled, cast his mind out for a comparison, and spoke calmly. "If a fire breathing dragon stood in your way, what would be the first thing you would do?" he asked.

James scrunched his face. "I suppose I would...um....well I can't stop him from breathing fire, and that is the greatest danger..."

"You blind him," Sirius put in. "Make it so he can't see you."

"Precisely," Dumbledore said. "Take out his senses. We find the spies and we incapacitate them. Mundungus will give you useful spells to bring them down without causing harm to them. But if it comes to him versus you, in a fight to the death, make sure it's you who prevails."

"That's terrific advice," Mundungus said for the first time. He had a thick cockney accent, which made his statement slightly more comical. "Try not to get yourselves blown up," he added. "Otherwise Dumbledore will have te find new members for this outfit. Can't have that."

Sirius tried to stifle his laugh.

"James, do you know of any spies?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes," he answered back, looking at Sirius. "Guy Burgess. Supposedly he's a recruiter of sorts. He's still in the Bureau, but all information to him has been stopped. I'm sure, however, that he is still able to get his hands on some things. Ashika and Rushmore Stiles wanted to keep an eye on him and see who he talks to, but he's not saying much to anyone anymore."

"Someone told him then," Sirius added. "I've been working on this kind of thing for years, real closely with Narayan, we figured out it was Guy Burgess who was sending secret notes from the Bureau to the Dark Lord. That's when we started to watch him. We've tried learning whom he has recruited in the Bureau, but so far he's been covering his tracks. We're also really concerned that there's someone higher up in the game that's messing with us, but we don't know who."

"Could it be this Narayan woman?" Arabella asked. "She seems to know everything that goes on."

Dumbledore shook his head. "She's certainly unconventional, but she is on our side. She knows Voldemort very well; she has studied him for years. Once in a great while when she asks for a favor, she allows me to pick at her brain. She's a brilliant woman. I wanted her out of this, however."

"She knows I'm here," James blurted out. "She guessed you would have me here."

"Like I said," Dumbledore commented, "a brilliant woman. Guy Burgess must be brought to justice," he said, getting back on topic. "It seems clear that he is a perpetrator. Arabella, perhaps you could show Mr. Burgess some of your charm work. And if he is a recruiter, then that means once he is out of the picture, others will take his place. And when that occurs, we will know about it. I must warn you, that once we start blinding Voldemort, he will become enraged and breathe fire everywhere he can."

"Meaning?" Remus asked.

"Meaning he will do anything to stop us, anything. We are all at risk. But we were all at risk before. So many of his victims have been neither attached nor participating in anything he would see as a danger. Even Muggles are being slaughtered, for the sport of it. I know this seems sudden. Why now do I bring this about? Why such urgency that wasn't there before? Of that I am not quite sure. The Ministry is faltering, the Bureau is failing, the people are dying, and Voldemort is prevailing. Simply said, I've grown weary of this, as well as deeply frightened and concerned. As I said earlier, I trust each of you. I know that you will do what is right, but at the same time you will do what is required."

"Burgess must go first," Jill Prewitt said. "Once he's out of the picture, others will crawl out of the woodwork. We have to be organized. One step at a time. We're all new at this. Burgess goes first."

"How is that done?" James asked, throwing his hands up in the air. "I know this Order doesn't have many rules, but everything else does. How can we get him?"

Matthew Prewitt answered. "That's where we come in. You see, James, in this world, it's not what you know but who. We have some friends who can really help us out. They can smooth things over, if you will, when it comes to his imprisonment at Azkaban. The only thing we are asking you to do is find him. Arabella can...well, she'll incapacitate him, and you can take him to the prison."

"What exactly do you do?" Sirius asked Arabella. She flipped her hair out of her face and smiled at him.

"She's a woman Sirius," Lily told him with half a smirk. "Burgess is a man. She'll use her sensual arsenal and reel him in, just like she would you."

"A fellow black widow spider," Arabella said as she looked down the table at Lily. "It's always nice to have company."

"Then what?" James asked. "What do we do after that?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now we don't have too much information, but now that you know what to look for and what to tell, next time will run much smoother. So this is how it will play out now. James or Sirius, find out where Burgess goes. Tell me, and I will inform Arabella. She will make contact, and James, you will deliver him to Azkaban, where he will be accepted by the Prewitt connection."

James sighed. "All right," he said.

"Don't worry, James. I seem to remember a young teenage boy with his three friends who would do things like this in their seven years here," Dumbledore commented.

"True," James said. "Though I was caught on a few occasions."

"Look at what fatherhood has done to you," Sirius said. "It's a complicated and dangerous game, James. Try to play it safe. You rescued two people from thirty Death Eaters last year. You have the common sense, so use it."

"Why can't Sirius do it?" Lily said. "You don't have a son to raise. Why can't he work the field? Why can't you?" she asked him.

"Lily," Dumbledore said calmly. "Sirius doesn't have the training, the experience, or the expertise that James has. Trust me, Burgess will be incapacitated by the time your husband gets there. He does much more dangerous work at the Bureau."

Lily mumbled under her breath about this.

"We will meet again on October the first, at this time, at this place. The entrance hall will be cleared of all students so your path will be empty. Thank you all for coming. Lily, I will need to speak to you about medicine," he said, rising from his chair. Everyone else did the same and mingled to the door. Lily got up and walked toward Dumbledore, fiddling with her hands. "I understand you have made a deal with your school?" he said.

"Because I had top grades, they'll let me keep my credits and return as a third year in eleven years. After I take a test; to make sure I retained all of it."

He nodded and smiled only as Albus Dumbledore could. "A wise decision. Harry will be most appreciative later on. But in the meanwhile, I will have to ask you to learn methods of healing. I'm sure you can do the basics, but we might need more than that."

"I understand," she said, sighing. "I will get some books and watch a few surgeries."

"I sense," he said, "that there is something you wish to tell me?"

Lily hesitated. She knew Ashika wouldn't have told anyone about her secret missions into Voldemort's liar. And Lily swore that she wouldn't tell anyone about it either, not even James knew. But should she tell Dumbledore, for the sake of the Order? They were going after Burgess; that had nothing to do with her. Besides, she didn't even know how close Burgess was to Voldemort; they all went by code names in Voldemort's presence. Telling him would be useless at this point in time, she thought. Maybe later would be better."

"No," she said, shaking her head of her thoughts. "Nothing."

He closed his eyes and nodded. "Very well. I trust the youngest is doing well?"

"He is," she said with a grin. "We think he's going to smile any day now. He looks just like James, though, no sign of me in there yet. Well, I've got to go to him now, actually. I left him with Jade, and he won't take the bottle. He likes authenticity."

Dumbledore chuckled. "I'll see you next month."

"Next month," she affirmed.

* * * * *

After a long day of staring at names and facts for him to memorize, Sirius drove home. He knew he could Apparate there faster, but speeding on his Harley relaxed him. Still, names and numbers kept popping in his mind. He had written the facts down so he wouldn't worry about forgetting them, but he stared for so long that they were now integrated into his brain. He looked at his watch; it was seven in the evening.

He turned abruptly and headed a totally different direction. By the time he reached his destination, the sun had dipped behind some clouds and was starting to sink down into night. He hopped off his bike, walked into the apartment complex, and ran up the stairs three at a time. At apartment 3D, he knocked. He heard footsteps coming to the door...

"Hey Sirius!" Jade said, opening it. "Come on in." And that he did. The apartment was small, but only Jade lived there. The walls were adorned with her paintings, drawings, and photos of her family and friends. The table was littered with sketches, drawing tools, and writing on parchment. A Shetland Sheepdog hopped off one of the chairs and ran to Sirius to greet him. "How are you?" she asked.

"Busy," he said, petting the dog. "You?"

"Oh, you know. I guess I sort of am. She likes you," she said, pointing to her dog.

"It's because I'm handsome," he said, smiling at her.

"No, that's not it. She likes everyone," she retorted, folding her arms. "So, does James have that day off?"

"Yeah. He took it off because it's the anniversary, but he has no plans for it."

"What? No plans? Well, it works out for us I guess."

"Remember, this is the guy who proposed in a train station. Planning isn't his best hobby. So, are we telling him about the resort, and not her?"

"Right. We'll give it to him and he can say it was his idea. You want to see pictures of it?" she asked, going to a box.

"Sure. Did you make these cookies?" Sirius pulled a plate of plump chocolate chip cookies toward him and took one.

"Yes. They're my second batch. I put way too much butter in the first. But those are fine. Here it is." She handed a brochure to him. Yes indeed, it was a nice place. It had a tropical influence to it, with palm trees, white sand, beach buildings, and swimming pools which were shaped, not geometrically, but like wavy figures which gave it an oasis look. The rooms were also quite posh. 

"Nice," he said. "A friend of yours owns the place?"

"Yeah, she's practically given me a room for two. I thought it would be nice for them to get away, even if it's just a few hours."

"Room for two?" he asked, setting the brochure down. "So you're giving it away because you can't have it?"

Jade dropped her mouth and furrowed her brow. "How dare you," she said. "I got this for them, Sirius. I know I'm not seeing anyone, but I took it for them. For them. Lily is my best friend, and I thought it would be nice for her and James to get away for three hours or so and just be together without worrying about their baby. I wasn't given this opportunity in a gift basket with muffins and plastic stretched over it. I took it for them, my friends. I'm glad he has that day off. I'll go and talk to him later about it," she said. She turned on her heal and went for the cue-stick. Sirius backed out of her way, but she just went for the pool table instead. "You can leave anytime, Sirius. No doubt some blonde bimbo is waiting for you."

"Jade, I'm sorry," he said. "I really am, I just misunderstood."

She hit the three ball in the corner pocket. "You thought I was recycling a gift. I may be frugal, but I'm not like that."

"I know, okay, it was a huge misunderstanding. I have a lot on my mind right now, but that's not an excuse. Come on, Jade, let's be friends," he said with a smile.

She hit the five ball in the side pocket. "Friends," she mumbled to herself. "Friends don't hurt each other whenever an opportunity presents itself, Sirius. We certainly don't fall into that category. It's hard to know who hurt whom first. But since then it's been a constant volley. I hurt you, you retaliate, I do it again, you retaliate... Or maybe it was the other way around, I don't know. It doesn't matter at this point, it wouldn't make a difference."

Sirius picked up another cue-stick. "I started it. But I didn't do it on purpose," he said. He hit the seven ball in the far corner pocket. "Then you retaliated."

"Right," she said. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "When I think about that I get sick."

"What part?" he asked. He paced around the table, looking.

"My retaliation. Could I have been any more juvenile? The way I treated you was repulsive. I was just a stupid teenage girl."

Sirius laughed as he thought back on their seventh year. "You were horrible to me," he said, sniggering.

Jade cracked a smile and tried not to laugh. "To say the least," she managed. "I would just like to say, for that poor teenage girl's defense, that Lily said that if I acted like I hated you and wasn't interested in you, then you would fall for me. She was right."

"So it's her fault?" he asked, still laughing. 

She gave up control and started giggling. "Why the hell not," she said.

"She's not here to say otherwise," Sirius commented.

"Exactly right. You want another cookie?" she asked, handing him the plate. "I am really sorry for my teenage, adolescent, obsessive rudeness I dished out to you three years ago. That was nothing less that stupid and quite silly."

"I guess we'll call it even with all of my 'retaliation' against you. All of it," he said, looking up quickly at her. "You do know what that entails?"

"I think I'm aware of those things," she said, kindly, hiding her smile.

"So are we even?" he asked, knocking another ball away. "Do we have a truce? No more battles? No more attempts to wound the other?"

"That sounds good," she said, unable to keep her grin inside.

* * * * * 

It had been a dreadfully long week. Lily honestly couldn't remember a time when she was more tired, and she had quit med school the week before. When she wasn't taking care of Harry, she was cleaning the mess required to take care of him. She would feed him, burp him, then hold him until he fell asleep. Then, with great care and ease, she would lay him down in his crib and pray that he wouldn't wake up. If she was lucky, she would pick up all the diapers littered on the floor from when she ripped open the bag, stuff all the dirty diapers into the bin, and clean all the blankets. Then he would cry again and the process would repeat.

Then she realized, when she got hungry herself, that there was nothing for her to eat. This meant, of course, that she would have to go out and get groceries. It was mid-morning; most people were at work. Lily loaded Harry up in her Apparation harness, his diaper bag, his other bag filled with extra clothes and blankets, and her purse. When all was added onto her, she looked like a horse with saddlebags.

And she was off, destination Diagon Alley. She never realized just how crowded the streets were, now that she was three times as large with bags alone and a baby in her front pouch like a joey. Several people, however, told her how beautiful her baby was. She smiled graciously, kissed him, then moved on. When she reached the market, she simply asked the grocer to get everything for her. He seemed to understand.

With a handy spell she used, the bags became feather light, and much smaller, which made carrying them a cinch. She figured that since she was out, she would go by Tiny Tots and stock up on baby clothes, since Harry was much bigger and getting much fatter. When she entered the store, women converged on her and starting cooing over Harry. He looked at all of them with wide eyes as they touched his hands and feet, kissed his cheeks, and talked at him in these high pitched voices. All of the women pulled outfits off the racks and showed them to Lily, insisting that he wear them. She bought some, then looked at more in the next size up.

When she left the store, glad that Harry hadn't wet the diaper or cried, she decided that going home would be best. She started to walk into the street when a tall man bumped into her.

"Sorry," he said, in a sullen voice.

Lily looked up at him; it was Snape. He did the same double take and stared at her.

"Lily," he said, his eyes and mouth open wide.

"Severus," she said, surprised.

He moved his gaze down on Harry. Lily stepped back a little and put her arms around him. "You have a baby," he said.

"Yeah," she said cooly.

"With Potter, I assume," he said, arching an eyebrow. He looked no different from the last time she'd seen his face a little over two years ago. His expression was still dark, his eyes were still cold and empty, and his mouth was still pulled down into a frown.

"Yes," she said, showing him her wedding band. "Almost two years now." She looked back down at Harry, putting her cheek against the top of his head. 

"I see," he said.

"I'm very happy with him," she added with her smile. "He's a great man, and a great father. I have to run along now, you understand. I have my baby to take care of."

"Yes," he said, stepping to the side to allow her to pass. "What did you name him?" he asked.

She considered not telling him, but what would be the harm now? "Harry James. Bye," she said, walking away from him. She shivered as she walked up the cobbled street, and never looked back...though he did.

Once she Apparated back into her apartment, she locked the door, dropped all of her bags on the kitchen counter, and put Harry in his vibrating, bouncing seat. "Creepy man," she said to him. Then she saw a rather large envelope sitting on her coffee table. She scrunched her face, walked over to it, and picked it up. A small note, written on a shiny, clear paper was attached to it. "To Lily," it read, "thanks for all of your cooperation and help. Perhaps the Order of the Phoenix could use these. A.N." Lily pondered the initials as she opened the envelope.

Several files fell out onto the table. One was filled with several reports on Voldemort's psyche, the others described schematics of the Fortress of Shadows, another was filled with code names, including hers, and much more useful information. "Narayan," Lily said to herself, as she examined each file. "Well I'll be damned."

There was a very sudden and loud knock on the door. Their name was not announced. "Coming!" she said, shoving the files back into the envelope. She stuffed it under a cushion, then walked to the door and opened it. Standing there were two Muggle policemen, with business-like expressions on their faces.

"May I help you?" she said.

"Are you Lily Potter?" the shorter one asked.

"Yes, what's wrong?"

The two exchanged nervous glances, and looked back to her. "I'm afraid there's been an accident. Could we come in?"

* * * * *

James stood in his office, staring at a map, tapping his foot and his quill. He didn't realize that he was also biting his lip until Ashika came bursting into his office once again.

"Thanks for knocking," he said without turning to face her.

"You need to leave right now," she said.

"Why this time? Morris Burg is on it, you know, he's making contact with Death Eaters. There isn't any more I can do."

"Your wife needs you right now. Her parents were killed in a car accident."

James swirled around; his expression read shock. "What?"

"They were driving to Surrey when a truck driver ran a red and hit them. Go home, James."

He didn't need telling twice. He slipped his robe back on and dashed out of his sector and down to the Apparation Chamber, where he disappeared. He barged into his apartment to find Lily bawling on the sofa, two police officers on either side of her.

"Lily," he said, going to her. She stood up and clung on to him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder. He didn't say anything else, what would have been the point? He held her snugly letting her weep. He looked at the officers and nodded. They understood, then took their leave.  
  


************************************************

Another note: Arabella, the name, means: beautiful woman/girl. Figg- a fig leaf is used to hide, or disguise. Put the two names together and you get: beautiful woman in disguise/hiding. Hmm... remember, it's my story. Mundungus- "maladorous tobacco." and a "fletcher" is someone who makes arrows. I did my research. This story isn't over yet. I don't know that I'll make my deadline but I will try my hardest! You'll know the ending, trust me. An epilogue will follow, but you won't need that to know it's over. You'll just know. It's terribly sad. Sorry, not my choice, it's Rowling's plot. Remember that. And I'm guessing about the Order. In nine days I can see, we all can see, how wrong I am.


	31. The Fine Sands of Time

***The Marauder Chronicles; the End of Innocence, is a fan fiction. Main characters and some locations belong to J.K. Rowling, while the IWBI and other concepts belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended; this story isn't to be duplicated or sold.***

Note: Please read the note at the end to get the scoop. This has now been edited, mostly. Some minor mistakes are always there. Happy International Harry Potter day to everyone, on June 21. It's been a long, yet great (for me) two years. Harry Potter has changed my life. After Harry, I loved to read, which I never really did before, and I discovered that I also loved to write. Here's to you, J.K. Rowling; you are my idol.

Eight: The Fine Sands of Time  
  


He didn't know how long she cried. Looking back, he might have said all day, but time leaves too much room for hasty exaggerations. But James estimated all day long, with periods of brief silence when she would simply sniffle, fiddling with his shirt. Having faced this before, James knew that she wouldn't want to talk about it for a few days, so he didn't ask any questions. The next day, however, she went about business as usual but without a smile to him in the morning, without that chipper spunk he loved, without that spark of joy in her emerald green eyes.

The funeral was planned for Sunday, the seventh of September, and would be given by the local minister. Lily spent most of her time worrying about leaving Harry with just Remus, as Sirius and Jade were requested to go, so Sirius offered to stay and watch him. Remus didn't hide his appreciation.

That morning, Lily wore a black dress with a modest black sweater her mother had given her. She ran her hands down it. The cashmere was just as soft as it had been when she first got it. She remembered her mother's face when she showed it to her. "Oh Lily," she had said, a tear in her eye, "you're so very beautiful."

She took off the necklace James had given her for Christmas several years back, and instead she clipped on a necklace her father had given her when she was just a small girl. It was a simple gold chain with the letter "L" resting on it.

"Are you ready?" James asked, putting his hands on her waist. "Sirius is here."

"All right," she said. "I'll be out in a minute."

He kissed her cheek and walked out into the living room, where Sirius was sitting with Harry. "How is she?" he asked.

"Upset. It's understandable. I remember how hard it is. Lily just fed him for ten minutes, I believe, so he shouldn't get hungry for a while. If he does, then you'll have to stick it out, I guess. Thanks a lot Sirius, it means so much to us."

"What are friends for?" he said, looking at Harry at arms length. "I think he wants to smile."

"I know he does, but I think he's got stage fright. He probably smiles a lot when he screams in the middle of the night and he hears Lily tripping over the floor to get to him."

"So he's got your personality too, does he? Thank God," he commented. 

"I'm ready," Lily said, coming out of her room. She had her hair back modestly, and here earrings were very small, but she still managed to look good.

"How are you getting there?" Sirius asked.

"We're Apparating to their Jag, and then I'll drive there," she answered. "May I please fix your tie, sweetheart?" she asked James, as she adjusted it. "Thanks Sirius."

"Any time. We have to bond, you know. I have to be able to tell him funny stories about you two when he's old enough, so we have to establish a trust." He stood up and gave her Harry, as he saw she wanted to hold him before she left. "I don't really know what the appropriate thing is to say before one heads off to these things. So I guess 'I'll see you later' is the best way to go."

"Be good for Sirius," she said, then kissed Harry and handed him back. 

"See you later," James said, clapping him on the shoulder. James put his arm around Lily and led her out of the flat so they could Apparate to the Jag.  
  


The sky was crystal clear blue and without a single cloud in the sky. The wind was crisp and cool but pleasant. The green grass shined at some angles, as it rolled down gentle hills. James watched the different models of cars as they drove past; the drivers never looked back.

When they arrived at the cemetery and parked the car on the road (badly may I add), James got out and opened Lily's door. She was composed, smiling to him as if they were simply taking a walk. He grabbed her hand and walked up to the plot.

James felt strangely out of place. There were loads of people he had never seen before, all of whom were staring at him quite strangely. Some of them he recognized as guests at his wedding two years ago. Then he saw Jade, who walked over to them.

"Hi," she said, calmly. She didn't ask how Lily was, for there was no point, and she didn't say "I'm so sorry," for she already had. She was just there, and James could tell Lily appreciated it.

"Hi," Lily returned. 

When the funeral commenced, James couldn't help but think of the last one he'd been to. The day hadn't been this nice, but he figured that at the time, weather wasn't the top thing on his mind. He remembered that he didn't cry at the funeral, though everyone kept shooting him nervous glances as if they expected him to. He wouldn't have been embarrassed if he had. 

He looked down at Lily, who was standing to his right, clinging to his arm. Silent tears rolled down her still pretty face. She wasn't trying to keep them inside. She just let them flow. She stared at the coffins, which were closed, one next to the other. A bed of roses lay on each, shaking in the wind.

To James, funerals were the most surreal times in life. Here he stood, his sobbing wife at his side, looking at two caskets, each containing an in-law. It was almost as if they had never been alive, somehow. He knew this wasn't true, he remembered quite clearly the first time he met the Evans's. Amanda had told him he was adorable, while Robert looked ready to crush him with his Mercedes. Then he warmed up to James and actually liked him. He had looked proudly to James as he handed him Lily, just two years ago. He said he was proud that his daughter was marrying him.

And then there was her, like Lily in many ways. Amanda was kindhearted. She was always smiling, she gave compliments like no other, and she could always make Lily feel better. Amanda looked for the best in people, a rare trait among humans. She was stubbornly optimistic and strived for what was best for her girls. Her girls. He hadn't thought about that before. He looked across from him and scanned the faces. There they were, in the front row next to a crowd of doctors. Petunia was also crying freely, but she was dabbing her face with a handkerchief. Vernon stood beside her, holding her hand. He was looking a bit heavier than the last time James had seen him. There were stretch marks on his suit, and a lot of pressure on those poor buttons. He seemed to sense someone staring, so he looked up and caught James's eye.

James gave a small smile, but it wasn't returned. Vernon simply looked back to the minister. At the Potter's funeral, James, Sirius, and Lily all stood next to each other, like a family. But this wasn't the case with Lily and her sister. They couldn't even put their differences aside, whatever the heck those were, as their parents were laid to rest.

When the caskets started to lower, James felt Lily vibrate. She had put her hand over her mouth to stifle her sob. He put his arm around her shoulders and brought her closer to him, then kissed her forehead.

"Goodbye," she whispered, looking at the rose laden coffins. "I love you."  
  


Luck had always kissed Sirius like the French. Here he was, on the Potter's sofa, with the smallest Potter tucked safely away in the crook of his arm, sound asleep. He was much bigger, but that was probably because he was now five weeks old. There were three rolls on Harry's thigh, and two on his calf. His small hands, one of which was grasping Sirius's pinky finger, had rolls where they met his wrists. Harry's cheeks were also getting wider, and very squishy. Sirius couldn't stop himself from putting his free finger to them, smiling when he felt how soft they were. And every once in a while, Harry would move his arms and legs, then go limp again.

Sirius had an Ian Fleming novel next to him, but it went untouched; he watched Harry instead. His hair was very thin, and there wasn't much of it either, but it too was soft. Sirius couldn't stop himself from touching that either.

The door to the apartment opened, and Jade came in, followed by no one. She looked like she'd been crying, for her eyes were puffy, but she smiled at Sirius. "Hey," she said quietly, tiptoeing over to him. "How's it going?" she whispered.

"He's been asleep the entire time," Sirius whispered back.

"Hello Harry," she said, kissing his head. "I love his little face."

"I was just thinking that. They make good looking babies. Where are they, by the way?"

"Oh," she said, standing up, "they're at the reception right now, but Lily was starting to panic about Harry, so James suggested that I come back. Though since I don't have the necessary tools for feeding him, there really isn't much I can do. But she seemed to feel better with the idea that I was over here."

"I see. How was it?" he asked.

"It was nice, as funerals go. It was a beautiful day. Lily wasn't taking it well, but that was expected."

"Was her sister there with tubby?" he asked.

"Of course. I don't think they were planning on speaking to each other, Lily and Petunia that is. She's not very nice."

"No, she's not. When will they be back?"

Jade shrugged. "Probably soon. They're going to go over the will later in the week, I believe. Do you want something to drink?" she asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Sure," he said, looking back down on Harry. She came back out with two glasses of water, and handed him one.

"He likes you," she said, looking at Harry with a smile. "He's not that quiet for everyone."

"Well, everyone likes Sirius," Sirius said.

"They do make good babies," she said, ignoring his last remark. "They should have five more."

"Just to be fair to the world?" he asked with a smirk.

"Basically," she answered back with the same grin. "But that's five more names they can bicker over. You know, it's not that I don't like the name Harry, because I do, but they spent eight months debating his name, and 'Harry' was the best they could do?"

Sirius snapped his fingers. "That is exactly the way I see it. They went from Julius and Merlin to...Harry. I love them both terribly, but they are crazy."

Snapping wasn't the best idea that Sirius ever had. Harry opened his eyes and stretched, then looked at the incredibly stiff Jade and Sirius, who were watching him.

"Go back to sleep," Sirius said.

In response, Harry screwed up his face so that his eyes were simply lines, and opened his mouth to cry. At the same time there was a loud ripping sound, which was accompanied by a heavy warmness that cumulated around Harry's diaper.

"Uh oh. He's making a mess. He's making a really big mess," Sirius said, lifting Harry up into the air. "He's still going."

"Bathroom," Jade said, taking Harry and going to the bathtub in the nearest bathroom, Sirius in tow. "Sirius, you see that little square bucket-like-thing?"

"Yeah," he said, grabbing it.

"Put it in the tub and turn on the water. That's Harry's mini-tub."

"I'm on it," he said, filling it with warm water. "Okay, now what?"

"Hold him and I'll take off his little nighty," she said, handing him to Sirius. She started unsnapping the buttons, then pulled it off. "Goodness," she said, looking at the poop on the back of his outfit. "There was so much it went up the back of the diaper," she said, giggling.

Sirius looked like he was ready to vomit. Jade threw the dirty clothes on the floor, then took off the diaper. "Okay, now let me spray that off," she said, pointing to his behind and back. She took the shower head extension and gently sprayed off most of the fecal matter. "Now dunk him in the tub, Sirius."

Still crying, Harry was now chest high in warm water. Jade took off her nice jacket, then rolled up her shirt sleeves. She picked up a rag, some soap, and went in.

"Have you done this before?" Sirius asked. 

"Not with Harry, but I have relatives with babies. And bathing is a simple process of cleaning, anyway. Now turn him the other way," she said to him, so she could get Harry's front. "There we go," she said to Harry. "Getting cleaner." 

"That was some marathon pooping, sport. I give you the gold medal."

"And now we rinse," Jade said. Sirius lifted Harry out of the tub so Jade could spray him with fresh water. Then he took Harry out of the tub area; Jade pulled a towel from a rack, and wrapped it around him, then held Harry. "Piece of cake," she commented, as she rubbed his face with the clean towel. "Now we put on a new diaper and some clothes."

"Nursery?"

"Yep. After you," she said, smiling to him. He walked out, Jade and Harry in tow, and marched into he nursery, where he pulled out a diaper, and a new outfit.

"Let me have him while you arrange everything," he said. He took Harry out of the towel, and held him up in the air. "All clean," he said. But then Harry did something Sirius had only seen him do once before; he peed. "Oh no!" he said, as the urine hit him. Jade turned around, and now it was her turn to laugh.

"Nice aiming, Harry!" she said, giggling.

"Ew," Sirius said, his face contorted. "It's all hot and icky."

"Let me have him," she said, still laughing. She put a diaper on him, then dressed him. He had stopped crying, but he was still very fussy. Jade lay him down in his crib, then took Sirius by the hand. 

"Where are we going?" he asked, pulling the shirt away from his skin with one hand. 

"Now we have to change your shirt," she said, puling him into the bedroom. "Take that one off," she said, helping him remove it. With the dry portion of it, she wiped at his stomach, then threw the shirt in the hamper. Then she grabbed on of James's shirt, which was neatly folded on the bed. She opened it up, he slipped his hands through, then she pulled it down over his head. Jade started tugging it down when Sirius took her hands. She let him, then slowly looked up into his brown eyes.

"Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome," she said back. She could feel his hands sliding down her arms to her waist, and his gaze never leaving her. "Harry's crying," she said.

"That's because he's hungry, and you can't fix that," he pointed out, pulling her closer to him.

"I know but I should go and get him anyways," she said. "It's their home," she added, then she took his hands off her waist and walked out of the room.

Sirius stood silent, looking down at the shirt he was wearing. He shook his head, mumbled "women," under his breath, then walked back to the nursery where Jade was trying to sooth Harry.

"I wish I knew what you were thinking," he said to her.

"I'm thinking about you," she answered.

He smirked. "What about me?"

She bit her lip to keep from smiling. "That," she said, "is for me to know." She grabbed a pacifier from the dresser top and put it in Harry's mouth. He sucked really hard, then spit it out and began wailing again. "When's mommy coming home?" she asked him. 

"You're thinking about kissing me, aren't you?" Sirius persisted.

"Um, nope, that's not it," she said, shaking her head.

"You're picturing me in bed with you?"

She laughed. "Nope, that's not it either, but now I know what you're thinking. Lily said he calms down if someone blows in his face, right?"

"Maybe. You're thinking about me... massaging you?" he said, touching her shoulders.

"Sirius, not everything a woman thinks is sexual."

They heard the door open, followed by, "We're home!"

"Harry, mommy's home," Jade said, walking right past Sirius and over to Lily, who's arms were open wide. "He's been crying for a little while."

"Let's go have some lunch, okay?" Lily said, as she took Harry and walked into her bedroom. 

"Your son pooped so much, it went up and out of the diaper," Sirius told James.

"Yeah, I've seen that before," James replied. "How did you handle it?"

"We gave him a bath," he replied.

"We?" James asked. "Oh, so it was recent. I got it. Well thanks again for taking care of him. He can be a handful sometimes. Why," he said, looking at Sirius's shirt, "are you wearing that?"

"One word for you, James: urine. My shirt is in your hamper."

"Right. I'll see you both later. I would ask you to stay, but under the circumstances..."

"That's all right," Jade said, pushing Sirius towards the door, "we understand. Take good care of her and owl me if you need anything."

"I'll do that." They left.

"You can't stop touching me, can you?" Sirius said, once they were in the hall.

"Sirius, now isn't the best time for this. I was just at a funeral for my best friend's parents. I really liked them, especially Amanda. So our relationship, whatever that is, can wait a few days."

"Why? You don't seem to upset about them?"

"That bothers me."

"What does?"

"That I'm like that, you know? I'm not really one for mourning too long, and I feel so callous."

"Maybe it's because you hadn't talked to them for a while? I didn't know them that well; I saw them maybe three times in my life. I'm not really one for mourning either, I guess. Will you cry for me when I die?" he asked, putting his arm around her shoulders as they walked down the stairs.

"This is turning out to be a really nice conversation," she mentioned sarcastically. "But of course I'll cry for you when you die. But I suppose, being a tough macho man, you won't cry for me."

He made a funny choking noise, then shook his head. "I'll try my hardest, Jade, I really will, but no promises."

"How sweet of you. Did you drive your motorcycle here?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, grinning. "Does Jade want a ride home?"

"Jade would take the ride if it was offered to her," she said, "but only if it was offered."

"I see. Sirius usually flies though, as to avoid the traffic. Is Jade okay with flying?"

"Jade would love to fly."

"Let's do it," he said, grinning at her. 

"All right," she grinned back.

* * * * *

In the year nineteen hundred and eighty, September, though memorable in many ways, wouldn't be regarded as the best month of that year. With the passing of Lily's parents into the afterlife, much more family trouble came. When Lily received a letter from her parents' attorney inviting her to discuss the will, she also found out that Petunia did not want to see her. So the attorney had to establish two meetings instead of one. While James rolled his eyes at her behavior, Lily secretly felt the same way; she didn't want to see her sister either.

Mr. Shaw, the attorney, informed Lily that her parents had left her the Jaguar, the Ferrari that Mr. Evans hardly ever drove, and the mansion. Lily was floored. She got the mansion, she thought over and over. I got the mansion, and the two cars. Despite her sadness that her parents were dead and that they would miss Harry's, and Dudley's for that matter, growing up, she smiled. They loved that house, they loved those cars, and they were hers.

Mr. Shaw wouldn't tell Lily what Petunia got, but Lily figured she got their money, the antiques, which were very valuable, and everything inside the house. She didn't mind that at all; she knew she got the better deal.

A little over a week after their death, Lily was finally able to move on. She didn't think about them as much, didn't focus on what they would be missing, and didn't cry whenever she thought about them. Either she was done mourning, or it was shoved out of her mind by something much greater. On Saturday the thirteenth, when she got up in the morning to get Harry, she picked him up out of the crib, and he smiled at her. It was only for a few seconds, but there was no mistaking the lips in a curl and the flattening of the bottom of his eyelids. He had smiled. Lily kissed his fat cheeks at least twenty times, then ran into her bedroom with him.

James nearly had a heart attack when Lily screamed for him to get up. He sat up so quickly that he felt like his head would float away. Lily handed him Harry and told James to laugh or something. He did as she commanded, and just as Harry had done before, he smiled again. The both of them looked at each other and howled with laughter, then watched Harry smile for the third time.

After sending owls to everyone they knew, they tried to get Harry to smile over and over again. James also noticed that while his eyes were still quite dark, they were definitely getting lighter. "I hope they're green," he said, pulling Lily in for a kiss.  
  


And while Sirius insisted that he was merely a good friend with Jade, inside he was very excited. This time, he thought to himself, things would be different. When they had gotten together at Hogwarts, their relationship was based on teenage hormones, heartbreak, and fights. But that had all stopped. He noticed that she had changed a whole lot since the first time he'd met her, and it was for the better. Along side her sarcasm, which would often consume her, was a quiet, gentler side that Sirius hadn't really seen before. He only saw it in glimpses, but the more time he spent with her, the more he saw it.

He often used the excuse that he wanted to play pool, when he showed up in her doorway. She smirked and nodded, like she knew he was lying, but would let him in to play. Often she would play with him, beating him more than half the time, and on other occasions, Sirius would play alone and Jade would talk to him. He found out a lot about her, little things he had never known.

She enjoyed writing stories, and was taking night classes on grammar. One day she hoped to publish fiction, probably based on her work in the Intelligence realm. Sparse ideas had come to her, but only just. She was also religious, but not pious. She attended service every once in a while, but felt that she could serve God in better ways, by action rather then observation, which many others would do.

Sirius wondered why he had never caught on to any of this before, but then he realized he had never asked. When he told James about all of this, Lily would often listen in. She had a superior "I know something you don't know" look about her when Sirius said all of this. He told her to fess up. "Jade's very private," she said. "She hardly ever speaks about herself. She tells people what she wants from the future, when they ask, but she rarely discusses what she does in the now." Then she walked away like she was floating on air.

He felt like he should pursue more than friendship with her, but she wouldn't take the bait. She would politely avoid a kiss, doing it in such a way Sirius would laugh. He didn't know why she would, but neither did she.  
  


But as I mentioned before, September was not a cheerful month. Even though Harry could express emotions with his face, though Lily now enjoyed her time spent at home with him, and though Sirius was now the best pool shark in all the Wizarding world, events outside of home could not go unnoticed.

On September the twenty-second there was a note on James's desk. It was very brief, reading: Have news. Meet at the tavern where we last made contact. Morris

James informed his people that he would be leaving, then headed back for Bulgaria. Morris was standing outside the tavern, drinking something that smelled like petrol. "Have I got some news for you," he said, leading him to the back of the building. "It seems Albus Dumbledore has better luck than you Bureau boys."

"What do you mean by that? He has spies?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, just recently got a big one. We're talking an inner circle Death Eater, not one of those light ones who just weasels people out."

"Who is he?"

"Don't know his real name, but his code name is Dour."

James shook his head. "I don't know what that means. How is it that you know all this?" he asked.

"Can't tell you that, Jim. Not even You-know-who knows that Dour is working both ways. I have contacts, but I can't reveal them. Now there is one Death Eater who's causing a lot of suspicion, just because she's hardly ever around."

"She?" James said, crossing his arms. "There are women in there?"

"Only a few. Supposedly she's also working both sides, and for the Bureau. No one has seen her face, other than You-know-who I suppose. They only know she's a woman because of her frame. She doesn't participate in the killings they do, only the organization and the information leaks."

"And she's ours?" he asked. "If there is already a spy on the inside, then why did Ashika tell me to recruit more?"

"Like I said, she's hardly there. According to my source, she only comes when You-know-who wants her to. She's been seen maybe three or four times in the past two years. She doesn't talk, only listens, and gives information directly to You-know-who. I'm not sure what he does for her, but I doubt the information flows both ways. But maybe it does, who knows."

"And she's still working for us, she's not a mole?"

Morris shrugged his shoulders. "Those are the only people I know about. Some of them are very wealthy, while others are quite poor. It's almost like a private society. There are some Death Eaters who are very important and with the Dark Lord every chance they get, and others, like this woman Emerald, who are almost invisible. I'll still try to get a hold of some more for you, but chances are they're too afraid. My source, and I'll only tell you this much, is like a messenger. He keeps everyone in check, finds out where they go. But as soon as I find out that kind of information, and it's leaked, he'll be exposed and killed."

James thought back on what Dumbledore had to say. He doesn't have rules. That was painfully true. It seemed like the Death Eaters were configured in such a way, that if certain information was to leak out, he would know exactly who leaked it.

"Thanks Morris. Be sure to let me know about anything else that comes along."

"I will, kid."

James walked to Ashika's office as soon as he got back. But for the first time, she wasn't there. "When will she be back?" he asked. The receptionist checked her screen. 

"I'm not sure," she answered.

"Well, could you tell her that James Potter was here to meet with her?"

"Yes," she said. James nodded then exited through the high security portal. But before long, Ashika walked into him, her head in a book.

"James," she said, then walked past him.

"Wait," he said, following her. "I have some news about our situation. Can we talk about it now or are you...busy?" he asked, examining the book cover.

"In my office," she said. 

"What's the latest?" she asked, as she propped her feet on her desk.

"Dumbledore has a spy, Dour, on the inside. This is all according to Burg, by the way. He also says that you already have a spy in there, a woman."

Ashika stayed stone-faced and quiet. James continued.

"She only gives information to him, but no one knows what he tells her. But seeing as how you are the one who sent her in, you probably already know that. To make a long story short," he said, getting a tad bit frustrated with her lack of enthusiasm, "it'll be really hard to get anyone else in there, or to recruit anymore. Dour's working for Dumbledore, and this Emerald woman is working for you. Why can't you have her do more work?"

"Because she won't. It's a special circumstance. Fox."

"Who?"

"Fox is the one telling him this information. Fox is trustworthy, he's the messenger. But I didn't know about Dour."

"Who is he?"

She shrugged. "They have code names. Your friend Sirius has a list of all the ones we know of." She took her feet off her desk then walked to her door. "Thanks for the update James. Tell me, is the Intelligence sector going to lose a historian?"

James stared at her. "I don't know what you mean," he said, though he had full knowledge of it. 

She raised a corner of her mouth into a snide smirk. "I'm glad you're not a spy. It doesn't matter, of course. Our following technique isn't working. Have a nice day, won't you?" she said, then shut the door behind him.  
  


Across the way from the Operations Sector, in Analysis, Sirius stumbled across something that made his head spin. It was a Hogwarts yearbook, a class a few years before his. He opened it and looked at the pictures, recognizing some of the faces as people he knew, past Quidditch players, and some others that he couldn't quite remember. Then he flipped to the Slytherin section, hoping to find some people who fell victim to his cleverness. He had a lot of luck, and he couldn't stop sniggering as he looked at their faces, but then he stopped.

A girl, too cute to be in Slytherin, stood out at him. She had dark eyes, and short dark hair. Sirius didn't realize his mouth was open as he stared. Sonja Woods.

She was in Slytherin? No way. Remus would never date a girl that had been in Slytherin, would he? They hated anyone in that house, the same house Snape was in, and Snape was the slimiest man ever. Surely this was a different person. Woods was a common last name, it had to be. Sonja... that wasn't so common, and she did look just like the girl Sirius knew.

He shut the book quickly, then went to reference screen in the back of the office. It worked much like Jade's tetrahedron, and almost like Ashika's screen. It gave encyclopedic information that was available.

"Woods, Sonja," he said to it.

The screen flashed several records for the name, then Sirius selected the correct one. The automated voice started to rehearse the records for him. "Woods, Sonja, was born November 5, 1957 in Cumberland to Lucy and Abner Woods. To see her school records, select-"

"Abner Woods? Who was he?"

"Records for Abner Woods are classified. You must get clearance from Director Narayan, Stiles, or Edgar."

"He worked at the Bureau?"

"Affirmative."

"Is he still alive?"

"Negative. Abner Woods died February 7, 1977. Causes are classified."

"He was killed," Sirius said to himself. "Can you tell me what sector he worked in?"

"Covert Operations Field Agent, Intelligence Department."

That's all he needed to hear. Sirius skipped out of the office and down to where Ashika was.

"You again? Can't any of you do things on your own without speaking to me?" she asked, reading from her book. "It's as if you think I'm your mother, constantly asking for permission."

"Who is Abner Woods?" he asked.

"A former agent," she said, without looking up.

"Why is his information classified?" 

"Why do you care?" she asked snidely.

"My friend is dating his daughter. She was in Slytherin, so I'm a little suspicious. Who was he?"

She sighed with frustration, slammed her hands on her book, and stared up at him. "He worked covertly a while back, but he doubled on us."

"He was a mole?"

"Not really. He was too smart for his own good. He started looking into our security charms, the materials of the building, that sort of thing. He was caught stealing samples of potions we were developing, maps of the interior, of the exterior... He was one of our best agents. Then when we found out that he was playing both sides, one of our agents slipped a poison in his gin and tonic. Unfortunately, everything he has stolen has never been found. His wife knows nothing about it; she was given Veritaserum and confessed that she knew nothing. The daughter was at Hogwarts when we killed him, but to her, he simply had a heart attack. We've been keeping a close watch on the both of them, but they seem clean. His records are still classified. I just gave you the short version."

"Did he tell anyone about the security?"

"If I found out that anyone knew where we were located, they would be slain immediately. So I don't know. That's all I know about that. It seems unlikely though, because if he had told, this place could be invaded by Death Eaters, but it hasn't. Now, everything I have told you stays between us, you understand me?"

"Yes," he said. "Thank you. You think Sonja is trustworthy?"

"No."

"Why not?" he persisted. 

She looked up from her book again. "You've never heard the apple comparison?"

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree?"

"Or rot, whichever. That's right. And she, as you have noted, was in Slytherin. It's not a very trust worthy group, from my experience. Now leave me alone and get back to work," she said.

"What book is that?" he asked.

"Why the hell do you care? Go back to work, Black."

The second he walked out the door, she pulled parchment and ink from her desk, scrawled out a quick note, summoned her falcon, attached it in code, then sent it out.

* * * * *

There was a knock on Lily's door. She was lucky she heard it over Harry's crying. She walked to the door to find a note slipped underneath, lying on the floor. It was in a small blue envelope. She recognized it, and her heart sank. She slowly leaned over and picked it up, her hands trembling. 

"Please no, not now," she said. She took it, with Harry in her other arm, over to the couch, then opened it. There were three words on the note: You've been summoned.

"No," she wined, looking down at Harry. Then a falcon flew in through the walls, bearing another note. Don't be afraid. It's the last time you'll have to go back. Jade Yang is on lunch break. -A.N. 

"Don't be afraid," she said through gritted teeth. "That's easy for you to say, you just sit in an office all day long and don't have an infant." But Lily knew that she could complain all day, but she would still have to go. She walked over to her fireplace, threw her sparkling purple powder inside, and called for Jade.

"What's up?" she asked with a friendly smile.

"Can you come over here and sit with Harry? Something's come up." Please don't ask what, please don't ask!

"Sure. I'll be right over." And seconds later, Jade came through the door. "When will you be back?"

"I don't know. I think you'll have to change him, I think that's why he's crying. Thanks so much."

"It's fine. Hurry home," she said, taking Harry and patting his bottom.

"Trust me, I will." She ran to her bedroom closet, grabbed her dark cloak, and ran out of the apartment and down to a street corner where Fox awaited her. She pulled her hood over her head, and followed him down an abandoned alley.

* * * * *

It was lunchtime at the Bureau, and James couldn't be happier about it. Sirius met up with him in the hall on their way over, and started chatting about this and that. It looked to be a pretty basic and relaxing lunch, when James was hit with Artemis. She was bearing a regular letter attached to her leg.

"Wonder who that could be from," Sirius said. James plucked it off and unfolded it.

James, it read, be ready to leave abruptly this evening to pick up and deliver the package. I'll send word with your falcon of where to meet.

~A. Figg, message relayed by Albus Dumbledore.

"Aha," James said, "we're really going to do this."

"Nervous?" Sirius asked, and began walking again.

"Of course. I still find it hard to believe, though. He seems like such a good guy."

"Speaking of which," Sirius said, "did you know Remus's girlfriend was a Slytherin?"

James whipped his head around so fast, Sirius thought it might fall off. "You're kidding! Does Remus know? Did he tell you, or did you just find out?"

"Just found out. I was looking at photos in yearbooks, trying to identify certain chaps, and there she was: Slytherin. Remus has to know. How can he not?"

"Why hasn't he mentioned it?"

"Probably because of our reaction, which is right on target. Jade and I were talking about her the other night. She's got a strange karma about her, you know? She runs that Divination shop, she's older than Remus, she's a bit rebellious at times... She doesn't seem like Remus's type, but he spends so much time with her. He hardly drops by your place at all, right? Kinda makes me wonder."

"You think she's no good?" James asked, folding the letter and placing it inside his pocket. "You think she could be... on the other side?"

Sirius simply shook his head. "I don't know. It's hard to tell with some people. I mean, I can peg Snape, or the Lestranges as dark dwellers, but Burgess or Sonja... I just don't know. She's probably a fine upstanding citizen, or not."

"What happened to the man who could 'read' people?" James asked with a smirk.

"He's dyslexic," he replied, smirking back.

* * * * *

Lily was led to a room in the lower portion of the fortress. The walls were made of large, black stone slabs, and they were oozing with black goo at the cracks. A green fire crackled in the middle of room, and several other Death Eaters stood around it in a large circle. Everyone had their face covered, either with a mask or a spell, like Lily, which kept their face in total darkness. 

Fox took a hold of Lily's elbow and led her one way to a gap in the chain. Then they stood waiting; for what, she didn't know.

About one minute passed, then, unmasked, Voldemort came in, a maniacal smile playing on his face. He sauntered into the middle of the circle and began to pace.

"Resistance will soon be coming our way," he said in his high, cold voice. "I wondered to myself when that would happen. But it seems Albus Dumbledore has arranged a little club, the Order of the Phoenix," he said, watching his Death Eaters.

Lily tried to hide her shiver, but it wasn't necessary; he had his back turned to her. 

"It seems they have grown tired of our attacks and volleys, as the Ministry of Magic does nothing to stop us. They won't go far, so we need not worry. They're a small group; we are large. We have the upper hand in what will be a short battle. But underestimation is one of the worst weaknesses to human kind. Just because they are small, it doesn't mean they are weak.

"We don't know who is in that group, only that they exist. I will reward anyone who can identify a member of that Order, and I will give them more if they bring them to me dead." He paused for dramatic effect and stared into each face that encircled them. "Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

He was answered with affirmative mumbles and head nods. "Excellent. They meet at Hogwarts, but I don't know when. Find out. Find out who they are. Exterminate them." Then he turned on his heel, his robes billowing behind him, and left the circle.

"He wants to speak with you," Fox whispered into Lily's ear.

She turned to look up into his face, but she couldn't see it. "Why?" she asked.

"I'm not sure."

He walked out into the circle and up the stairs, but different from Voldemort. Lily trotted behind him, her heart beating out of control. She couldn't help but think of the worst; he knew she was in the Order; he was going to murder her right there; he would kill James too, figuring they were in it together. But that was not the reason for this meeting.

"Ah, Lily," he said as she walked into his dark lair. "I'm so glad you could come. It's been too long since our last meeting," he said, pouring two cups of tea. "The rumor is you had a child, yes? Young Harry Potter must be almost two months now and growing strong." He offered her a cup, so she took it. 

"Yes," she said, straining to keep the fear from her voice. "He's growing strong."

"And how is your man?" he asked, a bit wryly.

"Fine," she replied. "Not that I want to be rude, but did you bring me up here to chat?" she asked.

Voldemort put down his cup of tea and smiled at her. "No, I did not. I'm sure you're on the clock, am I correct? Someone's taking care of the wee Potter, and you don't want them to get suspicious. I understand, of course. If I'm one thing, I'm understanding. The reason I summoned you here today, Lily, was to extend an offer." 

"An offer?" she repeated.

"Yes. Do lower your hood so I can behold your face," he said.

Lily did as she was told and took her hood off but kept her face emotionless.

"You are a powerful witch, you know. Talents such as yours should not go wasted on housework, child rearing, or Medical school. You could be great. And you won't achieve it where you are."

"What are you suggesting?" she asked.

"Come with me. Leave that good-for-nothing scoundrel you're with, and come with me."

Lily backed up a little and shook her head. "I can't."

"And why is that? Do you know what I'm offering you?"

"I love James and Harry. I could never leave them, not for anything in the world," she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.

Voldemort frowned at her, folding his hands in front of him. "Love," he said, "is your weakness. But, Voldemort is generous. Bring your son. Why, we'd be like a family."

Lily shook her head, backing up further. "No. I love them as they are."

"He's not letting you flex your power. You could command an army with your powers, yet he insists that you stay humble? You call that love? I call it fear! He's afraid of your abilities and jealous that you have more power than he does. Aren't you bored with his powerless acts and his inability to make you feel powerful?"

Lily didn't quite know how to answer that question, seeing as how she had never thought of any of it. "Marriage isn't about making someone feel powerful. I have a family, and power doesn't matter that much to me. I know I'm gifted, but right now the abilities that I have are not that important."

"You're living like a mere Muggle with little magic around you. It must be killing you inside," he persisted, closing his distance on her.

"No. I don't want to leave them. Try to understand that." She stepped back again, and found herself at a wall. "I appreciate the offer, though," she lied. "I don't want to come back here again. My husband is getting suspicious, and I can't bear to be separated from my baby. If I want to be a good mother, and I do, then I have to refuse you. I don't want my son to grow up in this sort of environment, you understand, don't you?"

He eyed her closely. "Yes," he said, extending his 's' like a hiss. "And you must understand that once you turn me down, there is no turning back. So, one more chance Mrs. Potter. Me or them? Power over the world, or love for your husband?"

"My husband," she said, her tone final.

He stared into her eyes and leaned forward, touching her cheek with his cold hand. "Very well," he whispered, his face just inches from hers. "Until we meet again, Lily." He pushed off the wall and walked back to his desk. Lily headed for the door, pulling her hood back up, when he spoke again. "Oh, and one more small detail. I will find and kill the members of the Order with or without your help. I know Dumbledore is close friends with that husband of yours. You can get me names, you can get me results. I know that."

She didn't answer. She simply twisted around to look at him, then left the Fortress for the very last time.

* * * * * 

Artemis flew into the Bureau like lightning, a note attached to her leg as she had this morning. James ripped it off and quickly read: 124 Sycamore, Modesto, California, United States. Five o'clock your time. Bring Apparation cuffs. ~A. Figg. Message relayed by Albus Dumbledore.

James looked at his watch; it was 4:50. He had never Apparated that far in his life. At least he didn't think so. He had no idea where the Bureau was located, so 124 Sycamore could be just outside. He scrambled out of his office, ran down the hall to the arsenal vault, and pulled out Apparation cuffs, as per instructed. He stuffed them in his robes, called Artemis to him, and went to the Apparation chamber without a comment to anyone.

When he got inside the chamber, however, he realized that he had no idea where he was going. In order to Disapparate, one had to know the destination. James pulled the note back out of his robes, and found that, where once was Arabella's writing was now a picture of 124 Sycamore. He stared at it, then Disapparated with a pop.

It was pitch black in Modesto. He didn't know off the top of his head what time it was there, but he knew it was late. The street was completely devoid of noise. James walked up to the door and was about to knock, when a beautiful woman opened the door. She was very curvy, with shapely breasts, gorgeous legs, and long shiny black hair, which fell past her waist. "You're early," she said.

"Arabella?" he asked, looking at her again.

"Mmm. To you I'm Trixy. Come in," she said, opening the door for him. James entered into the small but elegant house. "Guy is in the living room," she said, showing him in. "See?" she said, pointing to him on the sofa. 

It was Guy all right, but not how James remembered ever seeing him. He was sprawled out on the couch, his shirt halfway undone, a beer in one hand, and a cigarette in another. He appeared to be out cold.

"What did you do to him?" James whispered.

"Incapacitated him, like you wanted. I can wake him up if we want to ask him some questions," she said. And before he answered, she mounted Burgess and shook his chest. "Wake up, my darling," she said.

Guy opened his eyes slowly and looked to her with hazy eyes. "'Lo my foxy lady," he slurred. "Are you ready for me?"

"Guy, can you tell me a secret?" she asked, rubbing his bare chest.

"Anything for you," he answered.

"Can you tell me names of the Death Eaters you recruited, you bad sexy boy?" she said, kissing his lips.

"Oh yeah, there's some good ones," he said loudly. "Marcus Judan, from the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry, and Luke Mulver, from the Department of Law Enforcement, Lex Taylor in Processing, and K..." he started, then lost consciousness.

"Did you get those names?" she asked James.

"Yeah. I don't know who any of them are, though. Can you wake him up so he can tell you more?"

"No. He's out for a while. I put some potion in his beer, so I suspect he'll be sleeping for a few hours. You got the cuffs?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. He picked Guy up, then cuffed his hands. "Um, I've never been to Azkaban before," he said nervously. "How do I get there?"

"You can't Apparate there directly, you have to go to the port so they can take you by boat. I have a picture of it for you. Rick is waiting there for you right now; you should get a move on."

"What are you going to do now?" he asked.

"Fix up his house so it looks like I've never been here. Now get going then go home. Tell Lily I said hi." She pulled a photo out of her back pocket, handed it to him, then left the room.

James stared at it. It looked like a regular boating dock, but he knew that was the starting point for people being led to a horrible existence. James pulled Guy up, but he flopped back down. "Fine," he said, "be difficult."

Then he Disapparated. It was daylight here, but the sun was beginning to set. A tall balding man appeared from behind a boat and walked toward them. "You James Potter?" he asked.

"Yes. And you must be..."

"Rick. So this is dear Mr. Burgess, eh?" he asked, bending down to look at Guy, who was kneeling, still out of it. "She sure took care of him." 

But James wasn't listening. His eyes were locked on a dark building out at sea, at least two miles away. There were a few towers, but it was mostly a block. It was too far out for James to make out windows. "Is that Azkaban?" he asked.

"Yep. Not a very nice place, is it? Well, let me take this scumbag off of your hands, and I'll deliver him to the warden. Then the Dementors will take good care of him."

James felt a shiver go up his spine. "Are they really as horrible as they say?"

"Yes they are. But killers like him deserve it. People his age should know the difference between right and wrong, and he knows what he's doing is wrong; otherwise he wouldn't be so secretive. You want to take the boat with me, see it for yourself?"

James shook his head. "I've got to get back to my family. Thanks for..." he didn't know what he was thankful for. Guy had been his friend. He had also attempted to lure him to Voldemort's side.... still, he had been a good companion. "Well. Thanks for taking care of this."

"My pleasure. I'll see you around, Mr. Potter."

"Yeah," James said, sighing, "see you around."

* * * * * 

"How did it go?" Ashika asked, exhaling her smoke.

"He knows about the Order of the Phoenix," Lily said.

Ashika almost dropped her cigarette. "What?" she asked.

"He knows it exists. He doesn't know who's involved, but he knows we meet at Hogwarts and Dumbledore is in charge. He offered a reward to anyone who can give names or bring one of us in dead. He knows about us!"

Ashika took several deep breaths and sat down at her conference table. "How can he possibly know?" she asked herself.

"I have no idea, but you know about it. Have you told anyone about us?" she asked, slamming her fist on the table.

"No one. I've told no one. The only way someone could know is if someone in the Order is..."

"No," Lily said, shaking her head. "No, we're all good people."

"Look I won't ask you any questions about it, okay. Don't tell me anything. I don't want to know who's involved, where you meet, nothing. But it has to be someone inside who's leaking the information out. You have to tell Dumbledore, Lily, you have to."

"I will," she said. "Look," she said, examining her watch, "this is the second time I've used Jade today. She's going to get suspicious if I don't return home soon."

"So was that all?" she asked. "He summoned you to let you know about the Order?"

"Well no," Lily said, then sat down. "He invited me to...I don't know, share in his power. He told me I was a talented witch and shouldn't be wasting my time on my family."

Ashika's eyebrows went up. "He offered to share his power?" 

"He didn't say it in so many words, but that was the gist of it."

"Interesting. Very interesting. Actually it's very mysterious. He knows something...he knows something...he knows something," she mumbled.

"Knows what? What does he know?"

"I have no idea," she mumbled again, rubbing her temples. "There are too many holes for this to be a coincidence, too many..."

"Holes? What are you on about?"

"I can't tell you, because I don't know."

"I thought you knew everything that went on in the intelligence world," Lily said haughtily. "You have access to everything, right? How can you not know something like this? You studied him for years, you should know him like the back of your hand!"

"Don't raise your voice at me. I'll find out what the missing link is, and you'll be the first to know. Now go home!"

"Gladly!" Lily yelled back. She walked through the portal, into the abandoned alleyway, then to her apartment. She slammed the door shut, threw off her cloak, and crashed on her sofa. Jade walked out of the nursery, holding Harry, and came to sit next to her. 

"Where did you go today?" she asked.

"Out."

"Out where?"

Lily leaned her head on the back of the sofa, then twisted her neck to face her. "I can't tell you," she said. "I'm not having an affair, and I'm not looking for a job, or anything that sounds completely horrible. I just can't tell you, please understand."

Jade made a funny face with her lips, looked down at Harry and nodded. "That's fine. I just feel like I'm always out of the loop. No one tells me anything."

"That's not true," she said.

"Yeah it is," she said with a wry smile. "I'm used to it by now. I contain my own secrets, but no one else's. It's all right, I know it won't change."

"Jade I can't tell anyone this."

"Not even James?"

"Not even. So please don't tell him I left today, okay? He can't know. But I'm not doing anything wrong...I just can't tell anyone."

"Okay," she said, looking mildly confused. "I won't tell him. I promise. But look, I have to go."

"Are you expecting someone?" Lily asked, taking Harry into her arms.

"Sort of."

"Who?"

"Oh so now you want my secrets?" Jade asked, smiling.

"Are you seeing someone?" Lily asked.

"Not technically. I've got to go. He's got the cutest smile, by the way, and his eyes are definitely going to be green. So he will have at least one thing from you. See you later."

"Thanks for watching him," Lily said. Jade grinned, then left.

*********

October 1, 1980

*********

"So," Dumbledore said, surveying the nine of the Order his half moon spectacles, "one down. Mr. Burgess was admitted to Azkaban without trouble, as a matter of fact, he didn't even recognize that he was there until several hours later. He also managed to give us three names of Death Eaters in the Ministry. Sirius has done a full background check on them, James has followed their routine in his spare time, Arabella has made small contact with each of them, and Remus reports that they suspect nothing, for no reports have been filed. It seems we are ready for our next mission. These three men, however, will be much more difficult to apprehend. Mundungus will teach all of you the art of defense and attack wizardry this Saturday in the Prewitt Warehouse in Diagon Alley.

"Here is the plan: Arabella reports there whereabouts, James and Mundungus will apprehend them one at a time. Sirius and Remus will be standing by somewhere close, in case of injuries. If someone is to be wounded, Remus and Sirius will bring him back here where Lily will see to their care. Minerva will see to it that the incident is nowhere to be found by the press, and the Prewitts will make sure that if it is leaked, someone high up will stop it from getting out. Is that clear?"

They all nodded.

"Good. We also have a slight error. Voldemort knows about us," he said. Lily whipped her head around. "He talked to a group of Death Eaters about us just weeks ago, offering a reward for names and our dead bodies."

They all stared at him, transfixed.

"It was inevitable that he would find out, but I hoped it wouldn't be for a while. But while he is aware of us, he doesn't know who we are. Let's keep it that way."

"How do you know about it?" Mundungus asked.

"I have acquired us a spy on the very inner circle."

"There are two," James said. "One is working for you, the other for the IWBI. Maybe we could get her, too."

Lily went rigid in her seat. James knew?

"I was unaware of that," Dumbledore said. "My source didn't tell me about another. No, we can't use her, I would be afraid of her exposure. We'll just have to rely on mine. My source has also said that there will be a raid on a small Muggle town just outside London. Voldemort announced to a large group, so we can interfere without my spy being exposed."

"And just how does one intervene without giving away our identities?" Remus asked.

"We won't be fighting. We'll tip off someone to it. The Wizard Federation Hit Squad should be able to handle such a thing. Being a group of ten, we can only do the small yet significant jobs."

"Who's going to tip them off?" Sirius asked.

"I will," Dumbledore said. "They can trust an old man such as myself. Well, that seems to be it. Remember, this Saturday you will all train at the Prewitt building in Diagon Alley. Are we all clear?" 

They nodded. "You are all dismissed, except Lily, I want a word about the medical update."

She stayed put, again, as the others pushed their chairs back in to leave. James kissed her cheek before departing.

"How is the studying going?"

"I do it as often as I can, but it's hard to get the time in with Harry. I'm working on it, though. You can count on me. Oh," she said, going into he bag, "Um, Ashika dropped this off at our apartment a few weeks ago, she said it may help." She handed him the thick envelope full of files on Voldemort, which she got the day her parents were killed.

He opened it and flipped through. "She gave this to you?"

"Yeah, pretty amazing that she would do something that nice. She's kinda a snotty-" she stopped, then looked up at his twinkling eyes. "Well I met her once, almost a year ago, and I was three weeks pregnant, and she lit up a cigarette while I was standing there, and you don't believe me do you? Okay so I know some things about her, but only from James telling me," she said.

Dumbledore continued his stare, then folded his hands. "I saw you go stiff when James talked about the second spy. Is there something you want to tell me now?"

Lily hesitated. She could feel pressure behind her eyes, and a twisting sensation in the pit of her stomach. "She practically kidnaped me on my first day at school and showed me these children that he had tortured, so I really had no choice, so I went in there for her. There, okay? James doesn't know, my best friend doesn't know, the spy doesn't know, so I'd like to keep it that way. If you tell a soul, I swear I'll kill you. No one is supposed to know, but now James does, and I can't have him figure it out. If he knows I've been going to the Fortress of Shadows to get information for the Bureau, he'd flip. You can't tell him, you just can't. He'd be so scared and worried about me."

"Calm down," he said, grabbing her shoulders, "calm down. I won't tell him, but I'm glad you told me. So by your admission, you have met Voldemort, face to face?"

"Face to face. He's horrible."

"Yes, I know. Do you have anything you would like to add?"

"No. I was there only when he talked about us. Do you think he suspects me?"

"I don't know," he said, as he started for the door. "I'm not even really sure how he knows about us."

"Ashika seemed shocked. Wait, you don't think she's playing both sides, do you?"

"No, I don't. She is a thorn in anyone's side, but she is one of the good guys. But that's enough about that. When would be a good time for me to come by and see your little one?"

Lily grinned. "Whenever would be fine. He's doing so good. He's smiling now, you know. He's a lot bigger and fatter, much squishier and better to kiss those big, cute cheeks. And he coos now. When he wakes up, he makes this cute cooing sound and stares at his fingers like he never realized that he had any. But you can come by anytime to see him," she said, getting back to topic. "I should really go."

"Yes. You sound like a good mother, Lily."

"I don't know about that," she said, "but I try. See you next month, or sooner," she said, as she left.

James was right at the door, waiting for her. "Ready to go home?" he asked, taking her hand.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm ready to go home."

* * * * *

Expect the unexpected, or so they say. But if one expects what is unexpected, then isn't it expected, and has the phrase not lost all value? But if you are told to expect the unexpected, and the unexpected happens, without expecting it, does that mean you've failed? Well, in either case, you can choose which, the unexpected happened in two ways.

In the first way, the raid against the Muggle town outside London was a huge success, for the good side. Dumbledore tipped off the Hit Squad, and many Death Eaters were injured most terribly, but they all got away. Only one Muggle was killed, three others injured. They all recovered, though, and were given memory charms. It was assumed, by all of the Order members, that Voldemort was most displeased. 

In the second case, a visitor popped over to the Potter apartment in mid-October just to say hello. If they hadn't been so busy with Order business, or being parents, they might have suspected something was up, but they didn't. Peter was, as James noted later, much more confidant. He believed it was his new independence that he had gained, but there is no point in me trying to fool all of you as to the real reason. You already know that. So for you, you have expected what is expected, but unexpected for them.

As Christmas approached, the fine sands of time started to stream down the thin neck of the hourglass, as if gravity had taken on a whole new set of rules. It all began on one day, when the group of our heroes were sitting around and making a good conversation. James was laughing with the rest of them, as he was changing Harry's dirty diaper, (the three month deal had long since past) when he flipped over on his stomach for the first time. The room went very quiet when James made the announcement, and they all stared at him, on the floor, stomach to the ground.

Lily got off the couch and ran down to grab James by the hand as Harry flipped back to his back, smiling and giggling at all of them. He had gotten much bigger, and the rolls on his arms and legs proved it. His eyes were now most unmistakably green, his head was mostly bald, with a few black wisps, and his cheeks were simply large and squishy; the women in the room couldn't resist kissing them, while James would roll his eyes and comment about forever damaging him psychologically.

But rolling over voluntarily was big news. It was, after all, a precursor to crawling, then walking, and soon to spell out his first words. All of which happens in the next chapter.

Harry rarely cried anymore, only when he really wanted something, which was rare. He was the cute age of five months, past the difficulty of infancy and now going into the stage of unquestionable adorableness. It was hard to get Harry away from Lily, and if you could find them separated, it was because James was holding him. 

When Dumbledore came over to see Harry for the first time, that December, Harry didn't exactly smile at him. Lily said he shouldn't read too much into it, as babies at that age don't smile indiscriminately at strangers. But when Lily picked him up and held him, and then Dumbledore approached, Harry grinned and tugged at his long, white beard.

Sirius, Jade, James, Lily, and Remus spent Christmas together in the Potter apartment. Lily and James had spent most of their shopping, not on each other, but on Harry. He got a stuffed owl, plush broomstick, plush snitch, several soft books, new blankets, new mobiles, a crib piano that he could play, and many new outfits. Sirius had given him a soft motorcycle helmet to go with the jacket he had given at the baby shower. Remus, who couldn't afford much, had bought him a play wand, which was very soft and held an anti-choking charm. And Jade got him plush blocks, that when put together to form a word, pronounced the word. At the moment, however, Harry was much more interested in the shiny wrapping paper, which made crunching noises when he crinkled it us.

"God he's cute," Jade said, as she reached out for him. "You're cute, aren't you Harry?" she said. He smiled at her, then buried his face in Lily's chest. Lily grinned and handed him over to her, where he started to play with her wrapping paper.

It looked like most of the presents were gone, when two new ones surfaced. Sirius pulled out a long, yet small package from his pocket and handed it to Jade, trying not to grin.

"What's this?" she asked, looking totally surprised.

"I wrapped it so I wouldn't have to tell you," he said, edging closer to her. "So open it, will you?"

With nervous fingers, Jade unwrapped the package, to see a velvet jewelry case. She opened it slowly. "Oh Sirius," she said. It was a braided necklace, made of fine silver, which sparkled in the light. It was thicker than most chains, but nowhere near gaudy. It was something she would wear, even though she hardly ever wore jewelry. She looked at him with moist eyes and hugged him. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear.

"Jewelry," James said with half of his mouth pulled up. "That's a serious gift."

"Means commitment," Lily said with the same attitude.

Jade sat back down, but pulled Sirius's chin toward her, then kissed him.

"Awwww," James and Lily said. "But not in front of the minor, please," he said, pointing to Harry who was looking up at them with an uncertain look on his face. "It's too early to explain the birds and the bees, if you get my drift."

Sirius looked at the both of them, then put his hand over Harry's eyes, and kissed Jade quite vigorously, which she didn't turn away from this time, but smiled into it.

"So does this mean you're back together?" Lily asked.

Jade broke away for a little to explain. "Actually, we've been kinda going for a while, just unofficially and secretly."

"It was fun keeping it from you all," Sirius said as he saw their stunned faces.

"Wait, wait," James said, "what month did you get together?"

"James," Remus said, rolling his eyes, "are you thinking about that bet we made?"

"Yeah, so what month?"

"Mid October-ish," Sirius said. "Which means you're both wrong, so no money lost."

"Except that we were right about you two," Remus sang. "We knew you two would hook up again."

"I knew it too," Lily said, "I just knew it. I'm so glad. Are you going to get married?" she asked.

Jade and Sirius looked very uncomfortable suddenly. 

"Sorry," Lily said.

"Yeah, on with Christmas," James said, pulling an envelope from his pocket, handing it to Lily. "Here you go," he said, "it's the last one, but I thought it was too big to go under the tree."

Lily took it, curiously. Jade grinned and snuggled up with Sirius and Harry, who was still playing with the wrapping paper in Jade's lap. Lily opened the back of the envelope, pulled out the paper, and unfolded it. She read the first line or so, then her face lit up and she jumped at James.

"Is this real?" she asked.

"One hundred percent ours. That is if you like it. I had these three plus Peter help me in selection and the keeping of the secret."

"Oh James," she said, hugging him again. "A house!"

"We can go look at it right now, you know. They're aren't any people living there. There's a backyard with grass, a swing-set, an island in the kitchen, all that stuff you wanted."

Lily picked up Harry and kissed him. "We have a house," she told him. He had his plush snitch in one hand and wrapping in the other, but he still smiled at her. "A real house."

"For a real family," Sirius said cheekily. 

* * * * *

A small package was delivered. Inside it was a ring. The ring had a shiny black stone in the center, dull until someone slipped it on. The dragon engraved on the sides suddenly moved as the new ring bearer slipped it on his finger, examining his reflection in the black obsidian stone.

A note lay in the box. It was short: Get her.

He grinned as he flexed his muscles. "Now I will be his favorite. Pity you couldn't be around for it, Eureka. It's time, though, that I make a name for myself, and this will be the talk of legends..."

* * *

  


* * *

I know, I won't finish by the 21, but if you really want to know what happens, and hear my theories, email me and I will summarize. Or, you can wait for the ending, which you already know half, but the other half is all conclusion, wrapping up all the loose ends. I wish I could finish, but the last chapter has so much and will be long and agonizing at the end. I wish you all Happy Reading of OoTP and I hope to see you back here for the ending of this story and the beginning of my next one, "The Human Condition." If I manage to get the next chapter out, or at least a good portion of it, drop by my Yahoo site and look under the Files section for it.


	32. The Falling Pieces

***The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. Events are not to be taken as true to the events leading up to _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_. This story does not contain spoilers for _Order of the Phoenix_. Some characters and locations belong to J.K. Rowling, while original characters and the concept of the IWBI belong to me. No copyright infringment is intended. **This is not the last chapter of this story.***** 

Author's note: this is not the last chapter of the story. I was planning on putting this with the last chapter, but it would have been 45-50 pages long. Call me crazy, but I think that's a bit long for one chapter. I'm working on the last chapter right now. I posted this here because it's been over a month since I last updated. I hope to have the last chapter to you soon, but it'll take me a while and a lot of emotional strength. Again **this is not the last chapter of the Marauder Chronicles.** Oh, and my editor is in Europe so I had to edit all by myself. 

Nine: The Falling Pieces

  
  


The clouds in the sky didn't make the mood happy, nor did the crisp chilling breeze that hardened the white snow, turning it from a winter wonder land into a hard ice cap of the earth. It crunched under the two sets of feet as they made their way toward the house. Lily was holding a heavily clothed baby, who's green eyes were only visible through a slit between his wool hat and his thick scarf, which covered most of his face.

"Look at our new house, Harry," Lily said as they opened the door. "You like it?"

Harry gazed around but it was hard to tell what his facial expression was. Lily chuckled and took off his scarf.

"What do you think, Harry?" James asked.

Harry turned to face him and smiled. Then, as if embarrassed, he snuggled his face in Lily's shoulder.

It was a small one-story house with many windows, a light colored carpet, a nice size kitchen, and three bedrooms. The master bedroom was a good volume while the other two were moderate. Harry's new room, which was located in one of the corners of the house, had two windows.

There was a swing-set in the backyard, which was crusted with snow and frost. A fence surrounded the perimeter of the property.

James came up behind Lily and held her. "When do you want to move in?" he whispered in her ear. Harry reached out and grabbed his father's hair.

"Today," she answered, removing Harry's hand from James's hair. "We should call on Sirius and Jade so they can watch him as we move our stuff."

The actual moving process was as simple as several exuberant waves of a wand. In under five minutes all of the Potter furniture was in the house sitting sloppily in their rooms. It was Lily who did most of the work, not out of choice, but simply because James thought it funny to send chairs into the air in ballet-like motions. She took his wand away and sent him to his room where Sirius, Jade, and Harry resided. 

"Having troubles with the Mrs?" Sirius asked as James strolled through.

"She's got no sense of humor. What's going on in here?" he asked, watching the three of them. 

Harry was in Jade's lap, his head rested on her stomach, with his ankles in her hands. Sirius was throwing a ball at him and Jade was catching it with Harry's feet. He made a cooing laugh when he caught it.

"Maybe he'll be a Chaser," Sirius said as Jade tossed the ball back using Harry's feet.

James grinned and propped himself up against the doorway. "No, he's a Seeker. Aren't you?" He walked inside and hoisted Harry up in the air.

He grabbed his hair again and tugged.

"So how are the two of you?" James asked, prying Harry's fingers off.

"Fine," they both answered.

"I see. Have either of you seen Remus lately?"

Sirius looked down and shook his head. "No. He's with Sonja every waking minute."

"She's a bit... different," Jade said. "We don't get along to well, Sonja and I that is. Differing ideologies and such."

"That doesn't mean she's evil," James said. "You have a hard time getting on with anyone if they're too leftward."

"I know. Still, Remus was always the wiser among you four, the most stable. I mean, you and Sirius were always the perpetrators, Remus was research and analysis, and Peter was just... there. Sonja hardly even reads," she frowned as if it was a crime not to be big into reading, then stood up and started out of the room. "I don't know," she said, throwing her hands up in the air. "She just doesn't seem like his type." James watched her leave.

Harry started making "ah" sounds as if trying to sing, then rest his head on James's shoulder. His tiny hand grabbed a portion of his robes and clung on tight. James turned to face him and gave him a tiny kiss.

"Who'd a thunk it," Sirius said, pointing to Harry.

"Thunk what?" James asked in hushed tones.

"You with a baby. I mean I know you're a good father and all, but I can't ever stop seeing you as that silly love sick teenager, never having the nerve to ask Lily out. But here you are with her baby. It's amusing, that's all."

"I think you're the funnier one of us. You realize what Jade's doing don't you?"

Sirius straightened up. "No," he said. "What is she doing?"

"Lily told me. She's seeing how good a husband and father you might be. She's trying you out for marriage."

Sirius's face lost some color. "Really?" he said in a choked kind of way. "M-Marriage."

"Yeah, you know that thing where a man and a woman live together, sleep in the same bed, button up the hard to reach buttons, yell about finances and the baby. Marriage. It usually starts with a wedding."

"I know what it is!"

James suddenly became very buoyant. He started to sing as he left the room with Harry. "Sirius and Jade sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g, first comes LOVE then comes MARRIAGE--"

"-- And there goes James tumbling down a cliff because Sirius pushed him!"

* * * * * *

Moving had been completed, duties had been fulfilled, and intelligence gathering had occurred. The entire Order of the Phoenix, save Albus Dumbledore, had met in the Prewitt Warehouse in Diagon Alley many times over the past months. The purpose was to train up should any of them encounter a Death Eater. Professor McGonagall spoke in eerily silent tones to James and Sirius, who had taken to jinxing each other. She had said some rather harsh words, to James especially, mentioning his maturity in relation to him being a father.

"She was a bit touchy," James said and Sirius nodded in agreement. Lily, however, gave him a nasty look and rolled her eyes.

"This isn't a game. Both of you need to take this a bit more seriously than you are now. And she was right, James, you should live up to your responsibilities and try, at the very least, to mature." She walked off without him and started talking with Arabella Figg.

Sirius made a funny face behind her back then looked to James. "Has Mr. Potter been acting out of age?"

"I've been acting myself. If she doesn't like immaturity then she shouldn't have married me. Ah well," he said, throwing his hand out casually, "she's just tense."

"I have an important date tonight," Sirius mentioned casually, effectively changing the subject.

James grinned at him. "Oh really? You wouldn't be... gosh what's the way to say it, telling her the big three words that you've been carefully avoiding for years now?"

Sirius sighed heavily. "Maybe I shouldn't. Maybe she's not the one."

"Maybe she is and you're just a scaredy cat. At least you'll know she'll say it back. I know why you're worried though."

"Good for you," Sirius said. He ducked into a floral shop and started looking around. "I haven't got a clue which ones to get her."

"It's because you're having an internal argument with yourself, that's why," James said, pulling out a bouquet of roses which changed color. "These."

"Yelch," he said, putting them back. "She's not four years old. And I am not having an internal argument. I know when I'm having one of those. There are two distinct voices in my head bickering with each other and I watch from the sidelines. Maybe I should consult Lily about the flowers, huh? What's the point of having a woman as a friend if you never use her?"

"Lily would chose lilies, which are over there," James said, pointing to the far corner. "Anyway, you do love her. I can see it in your pathetic puppy eyes every time you stare at her. Even if you decide she's not the one, which you won't, you should still tell her you love her."

"I don't think this is a very masculine sort of conversation," Sirius said, examining some lilies. He pulled two out and held them side by side, comparing the colors.

"We're in a damn floral shop for heaven's sake. How masculine do you think a conversation can be in a place filled with flowers? Besides, it's the truth."

"What is?" he asked as he sniffed the flowers.

"You love her," he told him, looking slightly frustrated.

"I know that. This is a really dumb conversation," he said. "So what color? This orangish pink or white?"

"The orangish pink," James said.

"There is one very good recent development in the world of Jade and it's all thanks to you." He grinned and took the lilies to the front for purchase.

"Yeah? What's that?"

"She's been voicing her recent feelings about having a litter of children. Now she's talking about having one or two instead of six or seven. She says she never realized how hard the little brats are until you're with one for entire days at a time."

"Not that it matters to you," James mentioned, putting his hands in his pockets. "You're not having children with her, right?"

"I'm just saying," he explained. He gave the clerk the money for the lilies then left. 

"Where are you taking her?"

"Why, you want to spy on me?"

James laughed. "It would be a challenge with a eight-month old and our only babysitter with you."

"Well, it's an overly priced, fancy restaurant with the perfect mood. I checked it out the other day and decided on it. It's called Gelletos or something. Hey," he said, looking around madly, "where did Remus go?"

"I think he was still inside the building when we left."

Sirius pursed his lips together and started back for the Prewitt building, when Remus was running up the street towards them. "I was looking all over for you two. Everyone left, it was just me and the Prewitts."

"We wanted to steer clear from task master McGonagall," James said. Remus joined their ranks as they started back up the main street of Diagon Alley. They began discussions on Quidditch when a violent tremor went through the earth, causing all three of them to involuntarily hit the ground. Everyone in the street did the same, screaming as they tumbled to the cobbled street.

"What the hell?" Sirius said, getting back up faster than he'd fallen. James and Remus did the same. Sirius walked down the street then walked around the bend, freezing in his steps. Once James and Remus rounded the corner they could see why.

The Prewitt Manufacturing building was up in a blaze; great fire balls the size of small houses were exploding from the roof. Tall flames leapt out of what used to be windows and doors. The billowing black smoke stained the sky. But as James looked up he saw something far more frightening. He elbowed Sirius and pointed skyward.

There, surrounded by the smoke as if it was avoiding its touch, was the dark mark. Livid and green it stood against the blackness, a snake protruding from its mouth. Neither of them spoke. Lily came running down the street and nearly knocked James to the ground, her face full of tears. She hugged him and sobbed into his neck, muttering about his safety.

  
  


It took hours, even with magic, to extinguish the flames. Once the Rescue Wizard Squad completed their job, however, not even the frame of the building stood. It was pure ash and soot and had the most putrid of smells, like burnt hair combined with car exhaust. There were, of course, no survivors. The Prewitts had been inside as well as most of their employees, which was estimated at around twenty-five. James read in the _Evening Prophet_. 

They had not stuck around after the Rescue Squad arrived. Being seen would mean questions and questions of that magnitude would either require the truth or some very well constructed lies. Those choices were not good options.

James put down the paper and went to pick up Harry, only he wasn't there. James had just left him on the floor on a blanket with some toys, but now he was gone. He turned around frantically and stared about the room. He hit the floor and looked under the tables and chairs, but there was no sign of his son. James began to sweat. His heart pounded against his rib cage. "Harry?" he called, his voice shaking. "Harry come back here!" It sounded more like a request than an order.

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked as he entered the house. James leapt off the floor and closed the door behind Sirius. "What's the matter?"

"I-I-I lost him," he said. He searched the living room, tossing the cushions off of the couch out of sure panic.

"You lost him!"

"Uh huh," he said, opening cabinets in the kitchen. "Harry?"

"Where's Lily?" Sirius asked, searching the cabinets James had already checked.

"In the shower, preparing for my execution," he wined. "Harry, this isn't funny. Come back, you hear me?" He ran down the hall and opened all the doors, searching each room. "Harry? You listen to your father."

"How did he move, James?" Sirius asked, crawling on hands and knees, looking under the crib.

"Maybe he learned how to crawl," his voice shook. "Harry!" he yelled. He ran further down the hall to find his bedroom door was open just enough for an eight month old to go through. He pushed the door open. 

On the floor was Harry, his small body was squirming towards the bathroom door. With a jolt of relief, James walked over to him and picked him up. "Don't you ever do that again," he told him. Harry was reaching toward the bathroom door still, screwing up his face in anger. Then Lily walked out, her hair wet and in her face. She had a towel wrapped around her.

"What's the problem?" she asked, looking from James to Harry, who was reaching out for her. She picked him up and he stopped his crying.

"He crawled in here," James explained. "I was worried sick about him. One second he was on the ground where I had put him and the next I knew he was trying to find you."

To his surprise Lily didn't scold him, yell at him, or even frown. Instead she smiled and looked back at Harry. "Did you crawl in here to find me?" she asked him as if he'd answer. He grabbed at her hair and tired putting it into his mouth.

"He scared me to death," James said, sitting on the bed.

"Did you find him?" Sirius asked, not coming into the bedroom.

"Yeah!" he yelled, then turning back to Lily he said, "So I guess we should be happy about his new skill. Crawling."

"He'll be walking in a few months."

"Then talking," he added.

"And starting pre-school," she mumbled.

"Hogwarts," he continued, his face elongating.

"Moving out of the house..."

"Getting married..."

"Babies."

They stopped, stared into each others eyes, and forced themselves to laugh, only they stopped abruptly. Lily spoke first. "We're being silly. Here," she gave Harry back to James, "take him out and watch him this time. I'll get dressed and join you."

He did as she asked, then walked back into the living room. Harry squirmed in his arms and made noises which signified his anger.

Sirius was sitting in James's favorite chair, stroking Artemis absentmindedly, completely zoning out. He broke his gaze when James sat down on the floor with Harry.

"What's the meaning of life?" Sirius asked.

James shook his head and shrugged. "I'm not really sure. It's a big circle if you ask me. History's always repeating itself... never taking a different route; always on the same track." He sighed. Sirius went back to gaping at the wall. "You're thinking about her?"

He nodded.

"You still on for tonight, even though..."

"Yes. That's actually why I came here. How did you say it? Before now I never realized how big and important this is. Saying it means huge commitment, emotional investment, personal obligation..."

"I know." James tilted his head towards Harry who was crawling towards the hallway again. He must have heard Lily coming down the hall, for she appeared in seconds. She smiled broadly at him then hoisted him up into her arms. He smiled back, giggled, then clung on tightly.

"Does he like her more than he likes you?" Sirius asked.

"No," Lily answered. "He just doesn't like being separated from me. I'm his mother," she said as if it wasn't obvious before. "Don't you have a date to be preparing for?" she said to him.

"You know about that?"

"Yes."

"Does she know what I'm going to say?"

Lily smirked. "She suspects it."

Sirius buried his face in his hands and groaned. "What am I doing?" He looked at the floor through his fingers, his stomach churning over. 

"You're doing the right thing," Lily said. Harry started 'ahing,' as if singing.

"She'll start thinking about marriage," he moaned. He heard Lily laughing hysterically. He looked up at her. "What's so funny?"

"You don't have a clue about women. Sirius, you want to know when I started thinking about my wedding with James?"

He didn't know the answer to that. Or did he want to know? Was it too late to back out of this? Should he back out? He could hear his two 'inner Sirius' personalities preparing for a row inside his head. "When?" he asked.

"Right before he kissed me."

James whipped his head around to stare at her. "You're kidding!" 

"Nope. Oh, I thought of my wedding in general since I was... nine. But right before I kissed James, then things started to get specific. After I kissed him I talked to my friends, well, all the girls in our house about the wedding."

"Did you know all of this?" Sirius asked James. But by the look on his face the question was unnecessary. He shook his head. "So you're telling me that Jade has our wedding planned already?"

She nodded with a satisfactory smile. "You want to know where you're going on your honeymoon? Sirius, don't look so pathetic," she commanded, eyeing Sirius panic stricken face. "All women are like this. We like to plan our weddings. It's something we do. Jade's had her eye on you for a long time."

"I've gotta go." Sirius stood up, braced himself on the furniture, and strode out the door to his motorcycle.

* * * * *

Sirius paced around his apartment, flowers in one hand, wand in the other. He was muttering to himself, though had someone been listening to him they wouldn't know he was speaking English. He didn't even realize he was sweating. Once he stopped pacing he drank a tall glass of water in one gulp and sat down.

"Get a grip, would you!" he told himself. "You've known her for years. Three little words and I'll be stuck with her forever. But I didn't want other women, I have to keep that in mind. She is extremely beautiful, she makes me laugh, and I want to be with her all the time. Still I'm twenty years old. I should be free and unattached. 'Course I was free and unattached, but lonely. I have fun with Jade. I can talk to her about so much, except my job, but I can't really tell anyone about that." He sighed. "Look at me. Now I'm arguing with myself out loud. What time is it?" He looked at his watch. "I should go now, Jade's anal about punctuality. She values her time and my time," he smiled to himself. "And I love her. I love her. I love Jade Yang. Jade," he said, looking at her imaginary projection, "I love you. Piece of cake." He got up and went to his motorcycle, then drove to her apartment building.

As he walked up the stairs, lilies in his hand, he kept repeating the same phrase. "I love you," he said firmly. "No, that's too harsh. I love you," he said softly. "Ew, too soppy." He knocked on her door. "I love you, Jade. Jade, I...Jade," he said as she opened the door.

"Come in," she said with her pretty smile. Sirius's insides flipped a little as he looked at her face. Once inside her place, where the light was sufficient, he got a better look at her.

He had always considered Jade one of the prettiest girls he had ever seen, but tonight she capped all the other women and pulled out for the lead. She wore a long, midnight blue gown, which was sleeveless, thereby exposing her strong, tan arms. Her thick, shiny black hair seemed to have grown, for it was nearing her lower back. Her teeth sparkled as she grinned at him, her dark eyes gave him a look of longing, and the silver necklace he had given her hung gracefully around her long neck.

"Wow," he said staring at her.

If possible she grinned wider. "You too," she remarked. "You want anything before we go? Water, juice, milk? I have such a wide range from which to choose."

"No thanks," he said. "We have reservations."

"Got it," she abandoned the kitchen, flicked her wand to extinguish the light, and walked over to him, taking his hand. "Ready."

The ride to Galletos was a chilly one, but Jade managed to keep warm by holding onto Sirius. The restaurant itself was very romantic. It was dimly lit with candles in the center of each table. They sat in the front near the string quartet, whose music was just loud enough to be heard.

"It's beautiful here," said Jade. Sirius took hold of her hands from across the table. "How did you find this place?"

"Magic," he told her.

"I see."

"Remember the first time we laid eyes on each other?" he asked. After he said it, he felt nauseated. What a soapy thing to ask.

"Yeah. You went introducing yourself to all the girls. I was standing with Lily and she was asking you about James. You really weren't that cute at eleven, you know," she said with a wry smile.

"No?" he asked, leaning a bit closer, running a finger over her soft hand.

"No. You developed over time, though, and you still are." She moved her leg so it touched his. His heart started to race again. Why did she look so calm? He felt like this was their first date or something. Why? It isn't fair.

"What would you like to drink?" the waiter asked. "White wine? Or some champagne?"

"Water please," Jade said. The waiter gave her a funny sort of glance, scribbled it down on some paper, then looked to Sirius. "Me too," he said. The man shook his head and left.

"I suppose it is funny, coming into such a nice place and asking for water. I just don't care to drink alcohol," she said.

But he didn't say anything. He continued staring at her, playing with her hands. She didn't seem to mind.

After they ordered they talked about the accident that morning, (Sirius wanted to tell her everything, but he wasn't even permitted to talk about it outside the Order meetings) then they mused over all the different ways they had tried to get Lily and James together over the years at Hogwarts. Laughter was the prevalent sound. After dessert and a discussion of politics and life stories, Sirius was given the bill. He still hadn't told her.

"Have I told you how beautiful I think you are?" he said. Jade tried hiding her smile, but blushed. "Because you are."

"Aw," she said, now grinning and almost red. "And I think you're devastatingly handsome," she replied.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked.

"But we've already--"

"Doesn't matter. Come on," he said, taking her hand. He lead her over to the wooden dance floor, where only a few couples swayed.

"I'm really not very good," she said as he put one hand on her waist and the other in hers. "I'm not good at all."

"The last time we did this was at our graduation. From what I remember, you were just fine."

"It's because you were dancing with Lily and when you danced with me we were acting like teenagers and kissed the whole time."

Sirius gazed into her smiling eyes and nodded. "Maybe that was it."

"It was a very good idea, but we're older now and more mature." She leaned her head towards his. Sirius pulled her closer to him.

"It's a terrible thing, growing up," he mumbled, his lips approaching hers.

"Isn't it?" she whispered.

"Horrible," he muttered, then kissed her, but I bet you saw that one coming.

* * * * *

He was spinning very fast, blue lights swirling all around him, a sick sensation was coming over him, then it all stopped. He was standing in a circular room with a blinding white ceiling and floor. The walls looked like black mirrors; he could see his reflection. Only it wasn't him... He walked toward the wall and stuck out his hand to touch it, only there was no hand, but a silver scaled claw.

He was a dragon. A sparkling silver dragon with treacherous claws, gunmetal wings, and blood red eyes. As he exhaled smoke left his nostrils and hit the wall. He backed away on his hind legs, swinging his club like tale. Then feeling quite frustrated being stuck in this form, he tried yelling for help only flames flew out of his mouth and burned the wall to ash...

"AAAAGGGGGGHHHHH!" Remus yelled, sitting up in his bed. His breathing was short and shallow; he was afraid he would hyperventilate. He felt his chest and his back, feeling for scales and wings, but he only felt sweat.

He jumped out of bed and went to his bathroom to examine his face. He looked thin and tired as always, but there was no sign of a metamorphosis. He splashed his face with water, walked back to bed and collapsed there, gazing at the ceiling. Remus couldn't ever remember being in such a room, nor having someone describe it to him.

"It was only a dream," he told himself, closing his eyes again. "...a simple dream." And before he knew it, he was asleep again.

* * * * *

It was ten o'clock when Harry finally slipped off to sleep. His mother had put him in his crib two hours previously, but he hadn't kept his eyes closed for more than a second. Instead, he reached out for his mobile, turned it a few times, and giggled. Afterwards he kicked the plush piano keys at the end of his crib, playing a tune. Then he looked at the shelf across from him and spotted the large snitch his father had given him months ago. It sat there. Alone. Not with him. With a look of deep concentration, Harry reached toward the snitch and, as if reeling it in with a fishing pole, it flew into his hand. He giggled, held it close to his chest, and nodded off into dream land.

James tiptoed in the room to check on him. He reached down to touch his head, then smiled to himself. "Goodnight, son."

"Is he asleep?" Lily asked, looking up from her book.

"Yes," he said. He crawled in bed beside her and rest his head on her shoulder. "How many more do you think we can handle?" he asked wearily as Lily stroked his hair.

"I think it's a bit too soon to be asking that question."

"What are you reading?" he yawned, closing his eyes.

"Medical charms. Just in case."

"Sounds fascinating," he whispered. Lily closed the book and tossed it aside. "You think Sirius has told her yet?"

"No. I don't think he will, either. Sirius isn't very good about telling other people how he feels, is he?"

James sat up and looked down into her eyes. "He tells," he said grimly.

"He tells you," she said, scooting down into the bed so her head was lying flat. "He doesn't tell anyone else. He talks about your feelings for me, and such, but he isn't too good about his own."

James opened his mouth to argue, but as he thought about it... "Maybe," he said. "I'm too tired to think about it."

"You're the one who brought it up," she said casually.

"Well I'm sorry I did," he replied, laying his head back down to her shoulder. "Turn off the light please." And in five minutes they were both fast asleep.

But high in the air that night, Jade and Sirius were certainly not sleeping, nor did the thought ever occur to them. After a romantic dinner and dancing, Sirius was flying her back home. The three little words still locked up tight in his chest. _I'm running out of time_, he thought as he escorted her back to her apartment door.

Then they reached the door. He was certainly going to have to say it now. He didn't know why it was causing him so much pain. It was a simple thing, really. He wasn't having any trouble with it before he saw her. He knew he loved her. He was sure of it. But why, then, was it so hard for him to say? She'd already told him about her feelings. She'd said she had loved him. It's not like he was going to be rejected and it wasn't as if this wasn't the perfect moment. There she stood as beautiful as a goddess, looking into his eyes as if waiting for him to spill... yet they didn't come.

After a long, passionate kiss which he regretted ending, Sirius bade her goodnight. He was disappointed when she didn't protest or ask him to stay. But the longing that she had in her eyes all night long, faded away as he left.

His feet pounded down the stairs, his head sunk to his chest, and for once he wasn't happy to see his motorcycle. He had been one of those guys people would look up to for his bold, assertive attitude. What did this mean? For the first time in his life he'd failed at achieving a goal. He could mock and hex Snape, but couldn't tell a woman he loved her?

He mounted his Harley, revved the engine, and looked up at her window. The lights were on but she wasn't looking out of it like she often did when he dropped her off. He kicked up the kick stand and drove off, cutting off cars has he left.

Sirius spent the entire night tossing and turning, getting out of bed and pacing, eventually facing up to the fact that he'd failed her. As he lay down for the seventh time, a sudden thought stuck him...

Maybe saying that simple phrase was too, well, simple? Sirius opened his eyes and sat up, fully awake now. Yes, it was too simple. A romantic dinner then popping it on her was something James would have done. He was romantic by Lily's standards, but unoriginal. Sirius was completely different. Saying 'I love you' isn't his style! Sirius grinned and leapt out of bed.

  
  


The sweet song of the birds drifted in through Jade's open window, along with the crisp, early morning breeze. She didn't notice any of it for she was sleeping, but the birds sang and the wind blew. Jade did stir when the soft sound of trumpets could be heard. She incorporated this sound into her dream, but then other instruments followed.

Jade opened her eyes. There were trumpets playing... a piano, and other instruments which she didn't recognize. She sat up and looked out her bedroom window, only nothing was there. She listened harder... The noise was coming from the other side of the apartment, so she followed.

As she pulled back the curtains she nearly fainted. Then she lift the window and looked down into the street.

Sirius, in all his glory, stood in front of a band with a microphone, which was plugged into to huge Muggle speakers. Once he saw her, he turned to the band and gave them the signal, then he sang, as best he could and with all of his heart:

_"You're just to good to be true,_

_Can't take my eyes off of you._

_You'd be like heaven to touch,_

_I want to hold you so much, _

_At long last love has arrived,_

_And I thank God I'm alive._

_You're just to good to be true, _

_Can't take my eyes off of you."_

Jade started to cry as she looked back at him. She collapsed on the window sill and stared at Sirius with starry eyes. He smiled during the pause, at which time the band turned it up a notch.

_"Pardon the way that I stare,_

_There's nothing else to compare,_

_The sight of you leaves me weak;_

_There are no words left to speak._

_But if you feel like a feel,_

_Please let me know that it's real._

_You're just to good to be true,_

_Can't take my eyes off of you!"_

he sang, pointing directly at her. The drummer banged his drums and the trumpet players stomped there feet as the moved into the most dramatic part of the song. Sirius walked up to the sidewalk and stared to sway on the spot.

_"I love you baby, and if it's quite all right,_

_I need you, baby, to warm the lonely night._

_I love you, baby, trust in me when I say:_

_Oh pretty baby, don't bring me down I pray,_

_Oh pretty baby, now that I've found you,_

_Stay and let me love you, baby, let me love you..." _

She was now doused in tears...

_"You're just to good to be true,_

_Can't take my eyes off of you._

_You'd be like heaven to touch_

_I wanna hold you so much,_

_At long last love has arrived,_

_And I thank God I'm alive._

_You're just to good to be true,_

_I can't take my eyes off of you...." _

He held the last word for several beats then cut. The entire apartment building was applauding; the tenants were not upset that their morning had been interrupted, they were all cheering for him. It was the same up and down the street. Women were calling to him, men were cheering him on; even the members of the band were putting their hands together enthusiastically for him. But Sirius didn't turn his head. He didn't bow. He didn't smile to them. The only thing he did was stare into Jade's eyes and grin. It wasn't his cocky grin, nor the 'I know something you don't' grin. It was a smile she had never seen before.

It was the most romantic moment of her life, one that would never be reached by another man. She knew that now her heart belonged to him. And by the look of devotion and love on his face, he was giving his heart to her for safe keeping.

In nothing but underwear and an extra large t-shirt, Jade ran out of her apartment, tears streaming down her face, out of the building, and into his open arms. The street broke out in an explosion of applause, cheers, and other noises of pure entertainment and of happiness. 

Jade clutched onto him with arms and legs as he spun them around on the spot. She pulled her head back to look into his eyes. Her face was now sparkling with tears, but her smile made them invisible. 

"I love you, Jade," he said.

More tears rolled down her cheeks. "I love you back, Sirius." And she placed her hands on the sides of his face, pulled him to her and kissed him. Suddenly the cheering stopped, the wind ceased it's cold blowing, even the birds held off on their singing. But that was impossible... He knew it, but didn't think it. Once he felt her lips leave his, he slowly opened his eyes.

Everything around them was blurry. The sounds of the world were still there, only strangely distant. He could feel her heart beating in tune with his and a weakness in his knees. He felt as if he might fall, that his legs would give on him in a second. But they didn't.

"What's happening?" she whispered to him, looking around her at the blurred shapes.

He shook his head. "I hope it doesn't stop," he replied, kissing her again.

* * * * * 

"You sang to her?" Lily asked, her hand to her heart, tears in her eyes, pink hue on her cheek. She was sitting on her sofa, James on her right, jiggling Harry on his knee.

"Yep," he said, kissing Jade's cheek as she sat in his lap.

"That is so sweet," Lily said. "Isn't that sweet?" she asked James.

"Oh yeah," he said, smirking at Sirius, "sweet." Remus, who was sitting on the other side of Lily, seemed to be working hard to hold back a laugh while Peter wasn't trying at all.

"Laugh it up," Sirius told him, kissing Jade again. "Look who has the most beautiful woman alive, then look at who has no one." Peter stopped laughing.

"Uncalled for," Remus said, "but it does seem a bit over the top." 

For some strange reason, Sirius seemed very offended by this. His smile became very fixed as he stared at Remus. "Funny coming from you, don't you think?"

Remus gazed back at him. He wasn't faking a smile; he held his chin instead. "And what is that supposed to mean?" he asked. The room became quiet.

Sirius shook his head in a casual sort of way and looked around to James; his knee was still, Harry was not. "Nothing," he said, then continued. "It's just that you're girlfriend tends to be slightly over the top, that's all. It was an interesting statement coming from you."

The two glared at one another for what seemed a decade. It was only when Harry gave a resounding burp that they broke eye contact. James changed tracks. "So whatever happened to Liz?" he asked. Jade and Remus rolled their eyes, Sirius looked curious, Peter looked interested, and Lily answered.

"She sort of slipped of the map," she said.

James stared. "Meaning?" he asked, jiggling his knee again. Harry smiled back at him and made 'oh' noises so that they vibrated as he went up and down.

"It's a nice way of saying that she's been sleeping around to get around," Jade answered rather formally. "But she's always been a bit free about that kind of thing."

Sirius's face went slightly pink, but it was barely noticeable. "So you don't actually know where she is?" he asked. Jade glanced at Lily.

"Not really," Lily answered. "She sort of disappeared after Harry was born, but I hardly talked to her before that. She wasn't a big fan of kids. I mean she liked them, but not in that kind of way. Anyway, she's off somewhere with someone doing something."

"That's very specific," Jade said.

"I'm really glad you clarified that," Sirius told her. "Thanks Lily."

She nodded then went into the kitchen and pulled open the oven door. Smoke came billowing out of it, followed by her screeching, the extraction of her wand, and water issuing out of it and into the oven. Everyone seemed taken by surprise save James, who nodded to the others mouthing the words "Yet again."

"Lily?" Jade said gently.

"What?"

"Why don't you try some spell work for cooking?"

"Because it's cheating. Anyone can do that!" She then started mumbling to herself. "Smoke all over my house-- _spells_-- burned lunch -- never going to cook again."

"Why don't I go get something?" Sirius asked, pulling out his keys from his leather jacket. "I can just drive down somewhere and pick something up."

Lily made indignant noises, gave in to his 'demands' then marched off to her room, then back out again with a spell book. She began cleaning the oven. Harry squirmed his way out of his father's arms and crawled into the kitchen. He grabbed hold of Lily's leg and watched her wave her wand. He reached out for her wand with a wide smile.

"No, sweetie. You can't have that. One day mommy will buy you your own wand and you can help me."

But then he started to cry, pulling at Lily's pants and putting them in his mouth. "Hey Jade?" Lily said.

"What?" she asked, staring dreamily at Sirius.

"When do babies start teething?" she asked, putting her finger in Harry's mouth.

"Oh, about Harry's age. Why?" she said, kissing Sirius before he walked out the door. "OH!" she yelled, snapping her fingers. "You'd think I was blonde," she said to herself as she walked into the kitchen. "They're coming in aren't they?" Now James was up and in the kitchen.

"He's biting my finger like they are," she answered.

Jade reached down for Harry. "Let me pick him up so we don't all have to crouch down," she said, raising him to the counter. In seconds everyone there had put their fingers in his mouth, much to Lily's displeasure who pointed out, once again, that she abstained from caffeine, alcohol, and other such enjoyable pleasures while pregnant, so that Harry would be perfect. "And now here all you are," she said sighing, "sticking your germy fingers into his perfect mouth."

After a visit to the resident pediatrician, Lily and James confirmed the fact that Harry's teeth were erupting. At first they found this to be a good thing; Harry would start to eat solid foods. But when Harry would cry all the time or attempt putting anything in his mouth to mollify the pain, Lily admitted that breast feeding was far easier.

Once Harry got a teething ring in his mouth he kept himself busy, allowing the adults to continue with business. 

Apparently Sirius was disturbed with the fact that Remus was the last one to leave the Prewitt building before it exploded. He let slip this concern one day at work to James, who had questioned Sirius about his rudeness to Remus. Sirius also shared the interesting fact that quite a few werewolves were vanishing from their places of employment.

"So what?" James said, but he knew exactly what Sirius meant. 'So what' was that because werewolves were persecuted and ridiculed for their lycanthropy (which wasn't their choice) several of them were going to the side who did not oppress them; Voldemort's side. In Sirius's line of work as an Analyst, cases kept coming up where more and more werewolves were being spotted in the ranks of Lord Voldemort. 

James told Sirius time and again that Remus was not that kind of person. Sirius noted that Remus was passing an increasing amount of time with suspicious persons. Eventually, after debating the issue on a number of different occasions, they agreed that Remus was on their side. Sirius, however, continued an internal discussion with himself.

  
  


It was that time of year again when the flowers bloomed into a range of colors; when new fawns were striding along side their mothers in the meadows and forests. Nesting sparrows and other small house birds were rearing their newly hatched chicks, whose chirping calls drifted inside the house. Looking at the owl mobile which hung above his crib, Harry smiled as he heard those birds just outside his window.

There was a calendar on the other side of his room. A 'Quidditch Teams of Great Britain and Ireland' calendar which now showed the Falmouth Falcons for the month of June. Harry rolled over on his stomach, pushed himself up onto fours, then grasped a bar of his crib to hoist himself up into a standing position. Now the sun hit his round face, shining his tuft of jet black hair. He squinted a bit, then took hold of another bar with his free hand and began to shake the crib. He made an indiscriminate noise, like a holler, then waited.

When no one came into the nursery, he shook the crib again and hollered a bit louder. The door of the nursery opened. Harry smiled and giggled as Lily came in, completely dressed with her hair combed but back in a pony tail. "Good morning sunshine," she said in a bright voice. She lowered the one side of Harry's crib. Harry reached out for her and put his arms around her neck, she then picked him up and kissed him. "Can you say 'mama?" she said to him as she lay him on the changing station. "Say 'mama' Harry. Say 'ma - ma." But he only smiled at her and pulled his feet above his head. "Don't you want to say my name?" she asked, pulling off his dirty diaper and cleaning him up.

He cooed at her then laughed. She put on a new diaper then pulled a shirt over his head and put shorts on him. "Oh you're getting so big," she said, picking him up again and leading him out of the room. She pulled a comb out of her pocket and had a go at his hair, though it combing it was a very short process.

James was sitting at the table, toast on one side, the _Daily Prophet_ on the other. He looked up when Lily came in with Harry on her hip. "There's my boy," he said, resting the paper back down. Lily slipped Harry into his high chair and put the tray in front of him. "Good morning, son," James said, kissing Harry's cheek. Lily walked into the kitchen, then James lowered his voice. "Say dada, Harry. Say da-da. Say-- " Lily came back over with baby formula, "you look beautiful today."

"I know what you were trying to do," she said, scooping up the formula into a spoon.

"Don't even tell me you're not," he responded, taking another bite of his toast. 

"I wasn't going to. Open up Harry. Time for breakfast," she said, moving the spoon around his head. "Mmmmm, it's yummy," she said smiling.

"He's not stupid, he knows it's gross," James said. Lily didn't listen to him. She made helicopter sounds then tried to put the spoon in his mouth. Harry sealed it shut and frowned. "But it's so good," Lily said. She zoomed the spoon around again as James laughed. "Yum yum," she said, the spoon still in the air.

"Don't eat it Harry. It's disgus--" but the spoon was now in James's mouth. Lily sniggered.

"Look Harry, daddy likes it, doesn't he?" she asked. She pulled the now empty spoon out of James's closed mouth and smiled brightly. "Isn't it good, daddy? Harry's watching you."

James gave a feeble smile as he choked down the formula, which tasted like rubber and grass. Once he swallowed he mustered a "mmm" sound and smiled at Harry, who watched him with bated breath. "It's so good. Maybe mommy should try some."

Lily scooped up more formula and put the spoon in front of Harry. "Open up," she said. Harry looked at her then opened his mouth. "What a good boy," she said as he ate it. He crinkled his eyes and his nose; his lips went all funny. "Want some more?"

"Why can't you make that stuff taste better?" James asked, walking away from the table and slipping on his Bureau cloak. He whistled to Artemis, who came streaming into the room and landed on his shoulder. "He won't eat any more of that garbage."

But he was wrong. Harry kept eating it, repeating the same disgusted facial expression. Lily smiled at James and continued to shovel formula into Harry's mouth.

"I'm off," James said, checking to make sure he had his wand. "I'll be home around five or six." Lily went over to him to kiss him goodbye.

"Be safe. If you leave me alone to raise your son all by myself..." she shook her head at him threateningly. 

"That won't happen. Love you," he said, giving her a long kiss. "Love you, Harry!" he called, waving to him. 

Harry laughed and waved back, though his waving comprised of opening and closing his fist. James disappeared into thin air. Lily ran back to Harry's high chair saying "Mama. Say 'mama.'"

  
  


The Bureau these days was exceedingly busy. Employees from all over the globe were running around in a frenzy talking hurriedly in different languages. James took advantage of this by putting his translation amulet in his ear and listening to them. From the bits and pieces he heard, he found out that security was being tightened, suspected double agents were being thrown out, (without proof that they were actually moles) and security wizards were to guard all portal entrances. None of these measures hindered James or Sirius.

But the Bureau was preparing for something. James didn't know what, but something. When he walked into his office that morning, Ashika was lounging in his chair.

"There you are," she said snottily. "Thought you weren't going to come in."

He sat in the chair usually reserved for guests in his office. "Why are you here?"

"It's nice to see you, too," she said. James found it hard to be polite. She _was_ in his chair. "It's about you're friends."

"What about them?"

"Seems some of them, or one of them, is spreading the word about you."

James narrowed his eyes on her. She sat up in his chair and leaned over the desk. "What do you me?" he asked.

"Dumbledore and I have been keeping up with each other. He has the spy. Mine won't go back. But I digress. Apparently someone is keeping an eye on you and your family. A close eye."

James sat back in the chair and eyed her warily. "Watching us?"

"And passing it on. Last week you and Harry went to Diagon Alley. You stopped by the Quidditch shop, Tiny Tots, where you bought new clothes for your son, then back home. The fact that Dumbledore knew that through his spy is not a good thing."

He gripped the arms of his chair and continued his gaze at her. "Why? I mean, why are they watching us?"

"I have some guesses. You're a member of the Order of the Phoenix, therefore defying Voldemort's actions. The Order has caused him some grief. The Prewitt building is gone. It was an easy strike for them, but I'm sure they were trying to kill whoever was inside. You, Black, Lily, and the wolf were all seen coming out of that building. Luck seems to be with you."

"How do you know that-- "

"That the Prewitts were involved? Dumbledore. He contacted me when it happened. He want's more security and surveillance. He knows that I can supply. Anyway, the members of the Order all received tighter security on their homes. That's how we know you're being spied on."

James heard what she said, but it wouldn't register properly. Someone, one of his friends, was betraying him. The first person who came to mind was Remus. Sirius had said his girlfriend was in Slytherin. James hated Slytherins. Werewolves were going over to the dark side. Remus acted strangely when Sirius questioned him...

"Who would do this to me?" he asked. Remus had been such a good friend in school, it couldn't be him.

"Anyone. Any of them could. We've been watching them. Lupin has been spending a lot of time with Woods. They go out nearly every night but not even we know where. She's shifty. Pettigrew spends a lot of time at his work, but his free hours are a mystery. Black's the same way. He's here, with your family a lot, then with Yang. But there are periods of time when he's on that motorbike, when we can't keep tabs on him."

"It's not Sirius," he said firmly. "We've been best friends forever."

"He tried to kill, who was it, Snape? School enemy of yours, right?"

"He was sixteen," he said, unaware that his voice was rising. "Snape was going to poison Lily!"

"And it could be her. Good disguise. She knows where you go and what you do."

He couldn't believe his ears. Was she insinuating that Lily was betraying him? "You're crazy. Lily is my wife. It's a little thing called marriage. And we have a son together. You're completely out of your mind!" 

Ashika stood up. "Don't raise your voice at me, Mr. Potter. Remember I am still your boss." She crossed her arms and watched him take his seat. "I never said it was her. What I said was that it could be her. It could be anyone. What you need to do is keep an eye out. Our security is supreme, but if someone's spying on you from within, our security is worthless." She strode out of his office without another word. She walked briskly to her office, opened the secret passageway, and walked up to her room.

Everything was as she'd left it. She looked left then right just to be sure. "Music," she said and like magic, it played. There were even more books in here than usual. _The Complete Genealogic Encyclopedia _which she kicked aside; _History and Magic of the First Millennium _which she shoved off her desk; _Who's Who? A Guide to Unknown Witches and Wizards _which she threw into the empty fire grate.

"Screens," she said dryly as if she was quite bored. All three screens popped up with the same menu. "Great Britain." An image, not unlike a picture from a Muggle satellite, of Great Britain appeared. "England, Scotland, and Wales." Again, the corresponding image appeared on each of the screens. "Thirteen Willow Lane, Hogwarts, and... that's it." 

The two screens to her left showed a small house and on the other Hogwarts Castle. "Well, Lily, what are you up to now?" She tapped her wand on one of the windows of the house so she could see inside. 

Lily was kneeling on the floor, apparently at play with her son. Harry was sitting inside some sort of toy. It looked like a bicycle, only it had four wheels and Harry was sitting inside of it, not on top. He was using his legs to move the contraption, which operated on wheels.

"Audio," Ashika whispered.

"Come on Harry," Lily's voice sounded. "Come to mommy!" The wheels rolled along as Harry walked quickly to her; his smile lit up the house. His arms were outstretched toward his mother and when he reached her, Lily pulled him out of his transportation device and hugged him.

Ashika couldn't repress her small smile.

Lily attacked Harry with kisses; he giggled. When she stopped, he kissed her back then laughed again.

"Close," Ashika said abruptly. The Potter's living room disappeared from view. She rubbed at her eyes then turned to the other screen which showed Hogwarts. She stared at the castle for five minutes before leaving her desk and office. The two screens remained in action.

  
  


The moment he got home, James told Lily what Ashika had said. Lily didn't take it well. She was almost too cautious now; looking around corners, checking in closets and under Harry's crib for any sign of anything suspicious. James told her that it was a person who was spying on them, not the dust bunnies. She gave him a piercing look then trumped around the house, Harry crawling behind her.

When James informed Sirius about the matter, he seemed surprised but hardly. James knew exactly what he was thinking; it was Remus. But while James certainly denied this to himself, as the weeks passed and Remus became more scarce, he found himself giving credence to Sirius's suspicions.

"What you really need," Sirius said to him as July 3rd approached, "is time alone with Lily. When was the last time you two got out of the house and had some quality time together?"

James sent his brain on the mission to find the answer to this question. "A long time," he answered with a sigh.

"Just as I thought. How about I drop by your place on Lily's birthday and you two go out. I'll watch the kid."

James didn't jump at the idea, but it was appealing. "He get's a little cranky when Lily's gone. Are you sure you wanna deal with that?"

Sirius grinned. "Yeah. I can handle a baby, no problem. He's eating food now so Lily doesn't need to be there every waking moment, does she? Let me help out, James. You appointed me as his godfather. Let us bond."

James eyed him for a moment then nodded. "I'll talk to Lily about it." Sirius grabbed James's shoulders enthusiastically, causing him to grin.

  
  


The sky was hot pink, the clouds a soft yellow and very puffy. Sirius was speeding down a busy road, cars locked in the evening traffic. He laughed at all of them, swerving in and out of them on his motorbike. He finally stayed in the middle of two lanes and increased his speed. But when he crossed the intersection when he had a red light, a new sound reached his ears, and it wasn't idle car engines. It was a strange sound, one he'd never heard before. It was quite loud and terribly annoying. Sirius turned around to see where it was coming from only to find a black and white motorcycle following him with blue lights flashing. Sirius didn't know why that man on the motorcycle had this problem; if he wanted attention he could be a little less irritating about it. Making that racket was only causing Sirius to want to ignore him more. He geared up and increased speed.

But the man kept following him, even when Sirius turned onto a different street. "What is your problem?" Sirius asked as he looked in his mirrors. When the black and white motorcycle got closer, Sirius saw that words were spelled out backwards on that motorcycle, as to be read in rearview mirrors. Sirius scrunched his eyes to read the words. "Po-lice. Police. Police!" he yelled. "Bloody hell." He accelerated, tapping some of his special features into action. The Harley lunged forward as the speed doubled. The police officer seemed vexed. Sirius laughed as he flattened himself, like he was riding a broom. He zigged and zagged in between cars, people, and buildings, the police officer tailing him at a safe distance.

From experience, Sirius knew there was a hill up ahead which dropped suddenly. Yellow warning signs advised drivers to decrease speed so they wouldn't fly over the drop. Sirius ignored the warning. He yelled out a _whoop_ for joy as he experienced the momentary weightlessness. When he landed back on the road he noticed the motorcycle was still behind him.

"Come on, man. I'm going to be late if I have to keep playing this game. Oh well. I hope you're ready to eat my dust." He twist down the hill, his jacket flapping right behind him, the police siren chasing him. Sirius put on the breaks, the tires screeched. An alleyway was at his right... his alleyway. The trailer was still slanted down, making the perfect ramp. The siren was getting louder. Sirius grinned, punched his gas pedal (though it didn't operate on gas) and sped towards the ramp just as the police officer turned the corner. 

Sirius hit the ramp and flew into the air, only this time he didn't come back to earth. The police officer stopped his motorcycle and lowered his sunglasses. "Weird," he muttered to himself.

Now the sky was purple, a few stars came out to dance, and the once puffy clouds where now melting. Sirius sped through the clouds, watching the lights below him.

He slowed down then descended, hitting the street at a gentle speed. He drove through the neighborhood at a nice speed. Sirius pulled a comb out of his back pocket and passed it through his hair.

He parked in the unused driveway, stowed his keys in his leather jacket pocket, and knocked on the door.

"You're late," James said, opening the door. "But fortunately for you, so is Lily. Why do women take so long to get ready for dates?" He collapsed on the couch and examined his watch.

"Where's the kid?" Sirius asked.

"In his crib asleep. It's seven o'clock, Sirius, he's sleeps at seven."

"That's a horrible bed time," Sirius commented.

"He's not even one, seven isn't unreasonable. If in the strange event he does wake up, the formula is in here. Diapers are in his room under the changing tray. If you need us for any reason, touch this stone," he said, pointing to a large red stone which sat on the wall. "It'll ring us a message, clear?"

"Yes."

Lily came into the living room wearing robes of green, her hair was curly, and she looked slightly on edge. "Good you're here," she said, putting her earrings in. "He's just been fed, bathed, dressed, and put to bed. He shouldn't wake up but if he does the formula is in here. Diapers are located-- "

"-- under the changing table?" Sirius said. "James gave me the run down. I've taken care of him before, it's a cinch."

"No women over here," James joked.

"Darn. No actually I was planning this really big party with lots of strippers. It's a bummer you're not going to be here," he said, pointing at James. "Seriously, I thought Jade could swing by for a little dinner, then do a little dance, make a little love. You know, just get down tonight."

"No more Muggle music for you," Lily said. She walked over to him and held out her hand, palm up. "Hand them over."

Sirius pretended not to know what she was on about. "Hand what over?"

"You know. Give them here." She shook her fingers at him and waited. "I will not have my baby riding on that thing outside. Give me your keys."

Sighing with exasperation, acting as though he had no spine, and rolling his eyes Sirius handed over his keys. "It's like you don't trust me, Lily."

She snatched the keys out of his hands, slipped them in her robes pocket, and smirked at him. "Ready?" she asked James. He was smiling at her. "Yes," he returned.

"What time are you kids coming back?" he asked, throwing his jacket on the sofa.

"We aren't," said James with a casual hand motion.

"That's good. I'll be sure to see him off to school, I'll tell him all about the birds and the bees, the best places to pick up chicks... all that useful information."

"Thank you, Sirius," Lily said loudly, pushing James toward the door. They never opened the door, but held hands and Disapparated. Sirius turned on his heal and headed for the nursery. He opened the door a crack and peeked inside. Harry was fully awake, standing in his crib with one hand on the wooden beam, the other around a stuffed animal.

"Hey, Harry," Sirius said with a grand smile. Harry smiled slightly back, but looked nervous. "You know me, Harry," Sirius said making his way inside the room. "I'm Sirius. Can you say Sirius? Sir-i-us. Can you say my name?" Harry didn't so much as open his mouth. He sat back down and handed Sirius his stuffed snitch.

"Thank you, Harry. So are you as tired as they say you are?" Harry grabbed his blanket and covered himself with it. "Don't hide," Sirius said, pulling it off. "I'm your godfather, Harry. You and me are tight. We're like peas in a pod. Practically family, you and me. You want to go to sleep, don't you?" he asked in a defeated note. "That's all right. I'll just walk around aimlessly until those two come back." He started to walk backwards, Harry watched him then stood up again. "You're getting good at that standing thing. You'll be walking soon, won't you?" Now he was at the door, starting to leave. Harry reached out and made a noise. "Okay, you want out."

In five minutes time Sirius had the music playing loudly, Harry on his hip laughing. Sirius had managed to find some of Lily's records, so Sirius played some of them. Harry was having a good time as they danced around the house. 

Jade dropped by at eight, but not for long. "I forgot I invited my parents for dinner," she sounded truly sorry. "They're at my place right now. I said I was going to get something from the kitchen, so I don't have long. Shouldn't he be sleeping?" she asked, pointing at Harry who was crawling all over the house.

"Technically. He was awake when I came. So you'd rather be with your stuffy, boring, crazy parents than with your man?"

"No," she said dully. "I really wish I could stay. Maybe we could do something tomorrow morning. You do realize that when Lily finds out Harry's been up all this time, she'll strangle you."

"You worry too much. I'll put him to bed as soon as you leave. That's not for a while, right?" he said, dragging her inside. 

"I really wish I could, but my parents."

"I'm thinking about you," he said, leaning his forehead on hers. His fingers intertwined with hers. "I think about you a lot," he whispered.

"I love you," she said, stepping closer to him. 

"Aw," Sirius replied, "we're in love. Kiss me before you leave."

"Gladly," she said before fulfilling his request.

Harry stood up and grabbed hold of a chair then he walked along the back of the it, holding on for support. Next, he took hold of the top dowels of the chair and pulled himself up. It was his laughter which made Sirius and Jade break apart and run over to him. Sirius dived and hit the floor just before Harry did. Jade stopped the chair before falling. Harry was still laughing.

"Yeah, that's funny," Sirius said sarcastically. "Your mother would claw me to death. Don't ever do that again. You hear me?" he said to Harry.

He responded by yawning.

"Okay, don't let him climb on anything. I've gotta run. Love you," Jade said.

"Love you." She left with a pop. 

Sirius put on a slow music record and sat down on the couch. "I'm bushed," he said to Harry. "How 'bout you?" He yawned again. Sirius stretched himself out on the length of the sofa, Harry rest his head on Sirius's chest, clutching his robes with his tiny hands. He tucked his head under Sirius's chin and as he closed his eyes and headed for sleep, Sirius kissed him. As the minutes passed into hours, Sirius slowly joined Harry in the land of nod. One hand on Harry's back, the other just behind Harry's small head, Sirius let out a deep sigh and slipped into sleep.

Lily and James arrived home around one in the morning. They were tittering amongst themselves when they stumbled on the sleeping duo. Lily put her hand to her heart and looked at James, who wore a placid smile. "Take a picture," Lily whispered to him. James summoned Lily's camera and snapped two shots. The flash woke Harry, but Sirius began snoring. "Hello handsome," Lily said, picking up her son. "You want to go to bed?" 

James bent over Sirius and shook him. Sirius opened his eyes a little, so they were slits, then jumped up and looked for Harry. "It's okay," James said, "Lily's taken him."

"Oh," he sighed, laying back down. "Time?" he asked.

"One fifteen," he told him. "Thanks for looking after him."

Sirius gave a tired grin. "We had fun."

"Yeah."

Lily came back into the room with Sirius's keys in her right hand. "He's sleeping again. Thank you so much for watching him."

He took his keys then got up. "Any time. He's a good kid."

"He'll grow out of it," James laughed. Lily slapped his shoulder.

"Probably," Sirius commented, earning him a motherly glare from Lily. "I'll see you around. Nighty-night."

* * * * *

It was halfway through July. The sun was relentless, the wind apparently on holiday, and the flies out in droves. Jade dressed respectively in accordance with the weather and set out for the library. She had to look up some historical facts for work; the books she had in her department were insufficient.

The Wizard Library of London was larger than any she'd seen. The bookshelves were around fifty feet high, barely touching the ceiling. Golden ladders rolled along the shelves so the seeker could find what she wished. Jade had been in this library on many occasions, but it's sheer size and volume always impressed her.

She set her bag down on one of the long tables then headed for the 'Historical Documents' section. She was running her finger on the spines of the books, searching for the right one, when her finger stopped. _This shouldn't be in this section,_ she thought. She pulled the book from the shelf and set it on the table. She went back to scanning then had a double take.

_Ancient Dragons now Extinct_ sat on her table. She pulled out a chair, didn't sit in it, and opened the book. It was very old. The pages were yellow, nearly brown, and it smelled musty. As she turned the gritty pages, her eyes landed on a drawing of the Silver Razor Back Dragon. Spikes protruded from it's winged back, it's eyes were completely black, and it had exceptionally long claws. She lowered her eyes to the description.

_The Silver Razor Back Dragon was most commonly found in under ground caverns and caves of Northern England. In spite of his menacing appearance, the Silver Razor Back was considered one of the more docile of the dragon species. This played to his disadvantage. The Silver Razor Back was fairly simple to catch. The hunter would only have to lure him out of his cavern by leaving a pile of food._

_While known to attack humans, this dragon avoided it whenever possible. No dragon can be domesticated, but the Silver Razor Back was used by wizard armies to penetrate impenetrable fortresses. The gleaming silver skin often left security wizards blinded. The dragon's shiny black eyes spooked most men into believing themselves mad. This dragon was unstoppable at digging tunnels, turning the strongest walls into ash_, _and slashing its victims to shreds._

_The Silver Razor Back stands around seven feet tall; considerably smaller than most of its cousins. His scales are the toughest known to dragon kind, plated with pure silver. Length wise he is fifteen feet, from the tip of his snout to the end of his_ _club tale. His wingspan is fourteen feet, making him fast and maneuverable but not meant for long distances. _

_The only known way to slay the dragon was suffocation. A tricky venture, it was rarely done. However, Dragon Slayers soon found ways to sneak up on him and kill him. The hide was most valuable and was used to arm soldiers of troll, giant, and goblin armies. Owning hide was considered illegal after the dragon became extinct in 708._

Jade examined the picture again. She had completely forgotten about Remus and the ring he'd seen. She said she'd look into dragons for him, but never really did. This was the one he was describing, it had to be. The Silver Razor Back.

Her work forgotten, Jade took the book and left the library. She marched down the stairs re-reading the passage when Sirius bumped into her.

"They you are," he said, grabbing her shoulders. "They said you just got here."

"Hey," she said, rather distracted by the book in her hands. 

"I thought we could have lunch," he said, taking her by the hand.

"Lunch? All right."

Sirius looked in her dark eyes. "Is everything okay?" he asked, lowering his sun glasses.

"No," she said firmly. She wanted to tell him, why shouldn't she?

Sirius stopped dead in his tracks with a morose look. "No?" he repeated. "What is it?"

"Oh it has nothing to do with you," she said, smiling. "It's a long story but it has nothing to do with you."

Looking considerably relieved, Sirius grinned and walked her to the bike. They drove to a small café on a street corner where Jade unloaded everything. She told him about Remus coming to see her months ago, she showed him a sketch of the ring, her suspicions, and the book which connected the pieces.

"So you think," Sirius started, staring at the picture of the dragon and the sketch, "that this ring can penetrate an impenetrable fortress?"

"Yes," she said. "It's quite conceivable. If the ring is made from the dragon's scales, which is silver, then all that's needed is a spell to break in."

"Break in where?" he asked, but then he thought... "Hogwarts," he said aloud. He looked up at Jade and saw that she had the same expression as him. "It's Hogwarts."

"Because you can't Apparate inside. That's what it's for. But Sonja doesn't have it anymore. Remus told me a while ago that it was gone. He's looked for it."

"You've been talking to him in secret?" he asked.

"No," she said. "He went to you first but you sent him to me, remember?" 

Sirius racked his brain for such a moment, then it filtered across his mind. "Oh yeah," he said distantly, "when he came to my place at night."

"So this ring is gone. We don't know who has it!" she said, throwing her hands in the air. "Someone has to warn Dumbledore that there's going to be a break in. Only why would they break in?"

_The Order of the Phoenix, that's why_ Sirius thought. _Voldemort knows about us. He knows and now he's going to kill us. First the Prewitts, now us. I have to tell Dumbledore._

"Good question," Sirius said after his silence. Jade didn't know about the Order, though he wanted to tell her. Maybe now that the Prewitts were gone, maybe because they were shrinking, maybe she could join...

"I mean there are only students, and it's summer now. What can possibly be of value? Dumbledore would kick ass if someone ended up there."

"Yeah he would," Sirius said, imagining someone like Remus trying to fight, Dumbledore cursing him to oblivion. "Kick his ass," he mumbled to himself.

"Where is he during the summer holidays? He's certainly not at Hogwarts." She took a sip of her water. "Why doesn't he get rid of You-know-who once and for all. It's not like he can't."

"No, it's not," Sirius muttered. "It is not."

Jade looked at her watch and jumped. "I've gotta go. I didn't do what I set out to do and now I've gotta go. See you later," she said and with a quick kiss, she left.

Sirius contemplated about Remus and this ring for hours. He came up with a number of different situations, many of them concluding with paranoia. Still, nowadays being paranoid was an asset, not a deterrent. Either Remus was in on it, or he was blatantly ignoring the issue. But Remus was smart, he had always been smart. He was the more grounded of the four of them. He knew what was going on... So Remus had to be in on it, unless Sonja didn't tell him what the ring was for. That was certainly a possibility. But if Remus was mister smart guy, went to Sirius then Jade with suspicions about this ring, continued his search for the ring, but still stayed with the woman...? Sirius concluded his thoughts on one thing: Remus was a spy.

As the end of July died away and the Order met on the first of August, Sirius pulled Dumbledore aside after the meeting to convey his doubts of Remus's integrity. Dumbledore seemed somewhat concerned, but did not react the way Sirius would have liked.

"We'll keep an eye on him," he said, leading Sirius out the main door.

"What about-- "

"I'll take care of that," he interrupted. He obviously wasn't aware of the danger. This was serious, and he was taking it so lightly. Sirius glared at Dumbledore then left, heading back with James and Lily. Remus, who asked them what their plans were for the evening, broke away and went home. Sirius wasn't sad to see him go.

"I think you are paranoid," Lily said after Sirius went into his mantra. But Lily didn't throw him off like usual. She looked back at Remus as he left, her tongue thoughtfully between her teeth.

  


"Can't take my eyes off of you." Written in 1967 by the Four Seasons. Performed by Frankie Valli.


	33. The End The Beginning

***The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. Events in this story are not to be taken as true to the events leading up to the Harry Potter series. This chapter does not contain spoilers for book five. Main characters, Godric's Hollow, Hogwarts, and some other locations belong to J.K. Rowling. Original characters and the IWBI concept belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended. Again, I did this without my editor. This is the final chapter of the story. But an Epilogue follows this chapter.***

Ten: The End. The Beginning.

  
  


~~~Ring around the rosy~~~

  
  


It started with a dream. He was walking down a narrow hallway lit with lanterns of burning orange flame. The walls were made of oak planks, decorated with portraits of blank faces. The floor made no sound as he marched onward. There was a door ajar to his left. He stepped into the room only to fall into utter blackness. He screamed, only no sound escaped his throat.

He hit the cold floor with a painful thud. He was sure his glasses would be broken, but when he looked at the floor below him he saw no cracks in his lenses. What he did see were thousands of skeletons littered all over the stone ground. He leapt up and staggered backwards, the brittle bones crunching under his feet. He went to smooth his robes with his hands. His chest felt strangely rough. As he looked down at what should have been his hands, he shrieked.

The flesh and muscle on his fingers were disintegrating, leaving the white bone exposed. But it didn't stop at his fingers. The atrophy of his skin worked its way up his hand, to his wrists, and began to crawl up his arms. 

A walking skeleton, wearing spectacles, approached him. "It's nice to see you again, son," it said in what was certainly his father's voice. "It'll be over soon."

"LILY!" James yelled. He sat up quickly in his bed and looked around. The sun was pouring into his room and spilling over the sheets of his bed. James grabbed his shirt with his hand, making sure his skin was still there. He collapsed back onto the pillow and calmed his breathing.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked as she entered their bedroom. 

"I had a nightmare," he said. "A horrible nightmare. I...I was dead."

Lily crawled on the bed and sat beside him. "Dead?"

He nodded. "It was..." He looked at his hands again then broke off. Lily hugged him. "It was only a dream," she whispered in his ear.

"Yeah," he said, listening to his heart return to its normal beating, "just a dream."

But James couldn't help thinking that there was some kind of symbolism involved in that dream. He thought about it all morning, all afternoon, and into the evening. He was sure it would have haunted him as he slept, but the dream was completely pushed out of his mind by another event.

They had just eaten dinner and were sitting on the floor talking. Lily was telling James about an interesting switching charm and he was listening. Harry sat between the two of them playing with blocks. A cone shaped block rolled over to James; that was the one Harry wanted. James picked it up and started handing him the block when Harry stood up, took a few steps, and reached out for the block in James's hand. His legs teetered for a second then he fell down with a soft 'flump.' James and Lily stared at each other with gaping mouths before jumping up and hollering.

They owled everyone they knew about the news. Soon everyone who had received the owl was at the house waiting to see the next step in Harry's life, first hand. Harry didn't really enjoy all of the attention; he kept himself stationary on the carpet, looking at all of the guests as they encouraged him to walk. He didn't. The next time he walked was when no one was looking. He took his mother's watch from her bed side table and took it into his nursery. She spent all day looking for it.

Around the second week of August, after James had turned 21, Sirius and Jade joined Lily and James for dinner. It certainly wasn't anything fancy. They had sandwiches and milk while Harry had formula with a little of James's salami. He managed to get about half of it into his mouth, while the other half stuck to his face, probably due to the mayonnaise. Sirius laughed at Harry as Lily wiped it off his face.

"You want some more of that?" James asked, handing Harry another slab of salami. "It's good stuff isn't it?"

Harry reached for it with a grin. 

"James, make it smaller so he doesn't choke on it," Lily said. "I hope he doesn't have digestive problems with that."

"Harry's not going to have digestive problems, are you?" he asked, putting the torn up meat on Harry's highchair tray.

"Da-da," Harry said, nodding his head. The entire table went silent. Sirius's sandwich was halfway to his mouth, Lily had been dishing out more potato salad which was now pouring all down onto her sandwich, and Jade stopped chewing.

"He said my name," James said breathlessly. "Did you hear that?" he asked excitedly to the table. "My son said my name! Harry, who am I?"

Harry smiled without opening his mouth. His green eyes went into a squint as he chewed. "Say dada, Harry, say my name."

"Dada," he said in his mutchkin voice.

"Did you hear that?" he asked all of them again. "He said my name! He said my name, did you hear?"

"Yes," Lily said, hardly believing it herself. "He's talking now," she said, looking at her baby with the deepest love. "He's talking!" she said, grabbing James for a hug. "Our son is talking!" Lily jumped into James's arms, latched her legs behind his back, and let him spin her around as they kissed.

Jade politely looked away from them and rest her moist eyes on Sirius, who was also being polite. "He talked," Jade said with a grin.

"I heard," he said, taking her hand.

"It's special for them," she said, signaling to James and Lily who's lips were glued together.

"Yeah," Sirius said, still staring into her eyes. "It is special."

"Makes you think about stuff, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. I'm thinking about all kinds of...stuff." He could feel his face going red and his heart increased speed. He knew exactly what she was talking about.

Jade had casually been dropping hints on it for months now. One time Sirius walked into her apartment to find a bridal magazine tucked under the couch in an obvious sort of way. Then there was the time when he'd accidently seen her measuring her ring finger. One day she mentioned something about living in another place. When Sirius asked her to elaborate she grinned without looking into his eyes and said "a house." She had also engaged him in conversation about commitment and 'the next step.' Sirius would always shrug and say "What's wrong with our current step?" which she wouldn't directly answer. But the one that capped all the rest happened last Tuesday. 

She had been writing as Sirius came into her apartment to say hello. She shifted the parchment under another piece, as if she was going on to the second page. They talked about nothing, really, but had the best time doing it, then she went to get him a drink. In that time Sirius went over to the covered parchment to find it full of Jade's signature. She had written: Jade Black, Jade Yang-Black, Mrs. Jade Black, Mrs. Jade Yang-Black, Mrs. Sirius Black, Mrs. Black, Sirius and Jade Black, Jade and Sirius Black, the Blacks, "The Blacks Welcome you their home," and The Blacks: Sirius and Jade. He could tell that she had written each name with great care. After staring at the parchment he didn't necessarily feel uncomfortable, but that his last name sounded really stupid if you said it over and over again.

Sirius would have liked to deny thinking about marrying Jade, but the truth was he had. He would be lying to himself if he didn't face up to the fact that a wedding had crossed his mind a few times. What scared him most was that he started thinking about it much more frequently as each day passed. And as he watched Lily and James enjoy their moment of parental bliss, it spurred him on even further.

He consulted James on the matter. Not to Sirius's surprise, James, who had married just out of school, encouraged the idea. He even told Sirius where he bought Lily's ring and not to be nervous when proposing. "If she's dropping all of these hints for you, it's not like you'll be rejected," he would say. No, Sirius thought, she certainly won't reject me. When he'd think about marrying her, his age would popup. Twenty one. Wasn't that too young? But if you wait a year or a little over a year, you could be twenty-two. And if you plan better than James and Lily, you won't have to have a baby right away. 

"Is everything all right?" Jade asked Sirius. He snapped out of his musings and looked back at her.

"Fine. Maybe we should get going," he said, looking at James and Lily who were now waltzing about the room. "They won't mind."

They didn't mind. Soon they were dancing with Harry in between them. Sirius mumbled "nutters" under his breath then took Jade home.

* * * * *

  
  


Remus walked up the main street of Diagon Alley, his head buried in the newspaper which did not tell happy stories. Sonja had told him that a grave danger was coming, one that would cost the world very much. She said she'd consulted an orb over this. "I saw it like a veletision," she said in a mystical voice.

"Television," Remus corrected her.

"Whatever," she continued. "It was as clear as ever. Men were running around in panic. A woman is dead. And dark eyes are open."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm still interpreting it," she informed him. "I see the visions, but there is always more than meets the Eye. So, are we on for tomorrow night?"

"Yeah," he said. "I'll pick you up around seven, as usual."

He didn't know where to take her, but thought someplace different would be good. They usually ate in the same place every other night and he was growing tired of it. He was just thinking about it when he tripped into someone.

"Sorry," he mumbled, but then he realized it was Sirius.

"Hello," Sirius said, stuffing something into his pocket. "It's nice to see you," he said in what he hoped to be a polite way.

"And you," Remus returned.

"Where are you headed?" he asked.

"Home. You?"

"Home."

They stared at each other for a while, people bumping into them as they passed. "Lovely weather we're having," Remus said. "What's in your pocket?"

"Can't tell you that," Sirius said with a smile. "It's a secret."

Remus nodded in understanding. "How's Jade?"

"She's good. Sonja?"

"Never better. Just left her place."

"Why didn't you tell us she was in Slytherin?" Sirius asked with an abrupt air. He knew he could have approached the subject a little more lightly, but he didn't feel like it.

Remus smiled. "So that's why you're acting like this," he said as if it suddenly clear to him. "I didn't tell you because I was afraid you would react just as you are. So what, she was in Slytherin? She's a good person and she's told me she wasn't a popular one. Of all the Slytherins we bashed in school, she was never one. Don't you think that means something?"

"Not really. People don't change, Remus. They are who they are from the go."

"What are you saying? Are you saying that she's a selfish person concerned only with her own ambitions? You don't know her, Sirius!"

"I know what kind of people they are!"

"So going on 'people don't change' I should assume that you could use anyone to commit murder?" he said through his clenched teeth. "Will you always be a cold blooded killer, Sirius?"

Sirius raised his finger at Remus while his other hand was clutched on his wand inside his robes. "Don't drag that back up. You know the circumstances of that. It was stupid of me, all right."

"But people don't change. So I guess you'll always be a murderer deep down. Sure, you think you can justify it because of what Snape was planning on doing."

"I said don't drag this back up," he repeated, moving closer to Remus's face.

"Don't make assumptions about Sonja. People change. You've seen the metamorphosis in you and in James. Now get out of my way," he said. He side stepped Sirius and continued on his path out of Diagon Alley. Sirius bored holes in Remus's back as he watched his friend go.

****September****

  
  


"Hello everyone," James said as he walked into the War Room. "How are you?" All of the women rushed him cooing and sighing.

"Is this your baby?" one of them asked, touching Harry's hair.

"Of course," he said, continuing to his office.

"He's so cute," a short woman said.

"He looks just like you," said another.

"What beautiful green eyes."

"And those cheeks!" 

Harry wasn't smiling. He frowned at all of the women and kept his hands clutched tightly to James's robes. When these women kept touching him, he tried moving into his father's shoulder.

"How old is he?"

"Fourteen months next week," James told her. "Right Harry?"

"Yeah," Harry said in a small, squeaky baby voice. The women almost died from fawning.

"He talks too!"

"Of course he talks. Well, he only knows three words. 'Yeah' is our most recent achievement. Right Harry?"

"Yeah," he said again.

"He says that to most anything. Ready to go to work, Harry?" James asked as he continued to his office.

"Yeah," Harry answered. Leaving the women who were tapping their hands over their hearts, James stepped into the office hallway, then into his own office. He set Harry on the floor then gave him thick crayons and paper. When Harry tried putting the crayon in his mouth it grew so large it wouldn't fit. 

"Can't eat those," James said as he sat at his desk and began work. Harry took his crayon and paper over to James then jumped a little. That meant he wanted to be picked up. James drew up a chair with his wand and scooted it over to the desk so Harry could draw.

"Is this 'Bring your Brat to Work' day?" Ashika asked as she entered without knocking.

"No, it's 'Mother's out Shopping' day. Taking a baby to department stores is hard work. Besides, I remember the rules of this place and there is nothing that says I can't bring my son into work. Now, what can I do for you?"

"I wanted to ask you about your situation?" James should have seen this one coming. For the past few months she had been checking up on his 'spy situation,' as she worded it. She was constantly reminding him that it could be anyone he knew, even the gardener who lived next door. He acted like he was taking it in stride, but the more she bothered him about it, the more he worried.

Ashika was a lot of things. She was nosy, cynical, nosy, rough, and intelligent. But one thing she wasn't was careless. If she was putting so much time into James and his family, it wasn't good. She thrived on intelligence information. She lived for the moment when someone was caught. She starved for information and had to be involved in everything.

"We've been careful," James answered, looking sideways at Harry.

"Good," she said. "As long as you stay in that house, you'll be fine. I've got you on constant surveillance and if anyone pulls something on you, I'll know about it."

"Thank you," he said.

"You know not to rule anyone out, right? You should suspect everyone."

"I know," he said. "I remember my training, thanks."

"You should suspect me even, or Sirius." 

James wasn't suspecting Sirius, but she had a point. "I know that."

"Good," she said. She started to leave, but stopped at the door. "I suppose he is a cute kid," she said, drawing up her nose as if Harry smelled. "Make sure he doesn't doodle on the walls." She slammed the door behind her then made her way back to her office.

Her secretary had her sign a few things, analysts dropped by to share their theories, and she had a meeting with representatives from France. After her dull meeting, she said goodbye to the Frenchmen and headed up to her room above her office.

She called for music, as always, poured herself a cup of earl grey tea, and started for her desk. The only problem was she never made it there. 

A tall man came out from behind one of her book shelves and punched her face. Out of surprise, she fell to the floor, her teacup shattered. She tried whipping her wand out of her robes, but the masked man beat her to it.

"Expelliarmus!" he croaked and Ashika's wand flew into his hand. He laughed softly as he snapped it in half. "You won't be needing this," he said.

Ashika recognized his voice, or at least she thought she did, but she couldn't place it.

"Get the hell out!" she growled.

"I don't think so." He reached down to pick her up, but she scratched at his face with her long nails. He threw her down hard. "Crucio!" he said, pointing his wand at her head.

She let out a terrible scream, arched her back like a bow, and flailed her arms about. The man raised his wand and she relaxed. "I think it would be best if you listened to me," he whispered. He lifted her up by the hair and drug her to the desk. He tossed her into one chair and he sat in the other. "Now let's find out what's in that head of yours."

He tapped his wand on the desk top and the three screens popped up, awaiting instruction. "This is a nice arrangement, Ashika. Really nice. I wonder how long it took for you to set it up. I suspected you'd been living in the Bureau for years, but I just never knew where."

Suddenly it hit her. His British accent, his frame, that voice... "Kim," she whispered.

He chucked softly and pulled off his mask. He was clearly in his mid to upper fifties. His hair was brown and matted but not bushy enough to cover his big ears. His weak chin was shaped into a grin as he stared at her. 

"You were always the more clever of the two of us," he said.

"Kim Philby," she said again. She put her bony hands up to her open mouth. "Right under my nose."

"Oh you were close. Very close to finding me out," he said, laughing again. "When Burgess was sent off to Azkaban I thought for sure he would let it slip that he had recruited me. Lucky for me he didn't. But let's get down to business, boss," he said, pointing at the three screens. "You have the best surveillance known to wizard kind. I want access to it."

Ashika was only half listening. "You're 'Russ' aren't you?"

"Kim Russell Philby, Vice Director of the Counterintelligence Sector of the International Wizard Bureau of Investigation. They shouldn't have promoted you if you didn't even suspect the second in command. Of course it won't matter."

"What do you mean?" she asked, in a bit of a haze.

"I'll be promoted to Director once you are dead. But first I want access to your system."

Everything was working in fast motion inside her head. The raid in Albania going so wrong, her spies being executed in the circle of Death Eaters, information about the Order of the Phoenix leaking out... She had kept a record of it all and Kim got into it. And now he came for more.

"How long have you been working for Voldemort?" she asked.

Kim's grin faded away. "You dare speak his name? I have despised you saying his name since he came into power."

Ashika laughed this time. "How so, Kimmy?" she asked.

He struck the side of her face. She hit the wall beside her then shook her head.

"Manners, Narayan."

But when he hit her this time, something was different. She felt something cold touch her face, something smooth, like a ring. Slowly, so he wouldn't notice, she glanced down at his hands, rubbing her face.

There, where a wedding bad would reside, was a large silver ring, embedded with a shiny black stone. The engraved dragon on the ring's sides were moving as if it were alive. She looked back into his eyes.

"How long?" she asked again.

"Years. But I really don't have the time for a chat. Tell me how to access this system."

"Why?"

"Because I want to use it. I want access to your cameras, your audio, your historical records and analysis beacons. I want them all in my control. If you don't give them to me, I'll make you do it."

Her head started working again. She knew she wouldn't be able to fight the Imperius curse if he put it on her. If she worked how he wanted, she might be able to inflict some damage.

Without saying a word, she nodded to her screens and they went into ready mode. Philby allowed himself a grin and took a deep breath. "Very good. Now, why don't you show me where all of our employees are living."

She shut her eyes tight and clenched her fists. "Show me all Bureau employee's residences," she spoke; each word came out painfully.

Three maps appeared, each with yellow dots with the corresponding names. Kim got closer to them. "We really are international, aren't we?"

"Why do you think they picked that name?" she said snidely. He ignored her. 

"Take me into England," he said.

"Show me England," Ashika mumbled. Each screen showed the identical map of the country, labeled with yellow dots.

"Well, well, well. I do believe all of this is illegal, Ashika. You must have cameras hidden in the atmosphere. We both know that's against our laws. Pity you're a stickler for the wrong side. Now, the last time I broke into your office you left some of these screens in such a way that I could see a reflection of what had been on. A red haired woman was playing with her baby boy."

Ashika felt the blood leave her face. He had seen Lily with Harry. How could she have been so stupid! Lily her spy, whom she promised she'd protect, and Harry... Harry was someone important, someone very important. But Philby didn't seem to know who the people were. She hoped James had taken Harry back home.

"That's interesting," she said in a would be calm sort of voice.

"Fascinating. You can see inside homes. You are far too nosy for your own good. I'm so glad," he said. "Well, you have the Potters marked here. Let's see what they're up to." He looked back to Ashika.

He knows something, she thought. He knows they're in the Order, he knows about Harry's lineage, he knows about everything. She inched forward in her chair, her heart beating fast, her breath barely there. He kept looking at her, waiting for her screen commands. She would have to do it later.

"Potters," she said. Records of both Lily and James popped up on one screen. The center screen showed their home, and the screen on the far right showed Harry's extensive records. Ashika held onto her desk, bracing herself.

"Amazing," he said breathlessly. He went to examine Lily and James's records, muttering "fascinating" under his breath. Ashika inched her hand underneath her desk and pushed a small button. "Well, members of the Order of the Phoenix," he said triumphantly. "The Dark Lord appreciates your attention to detail," he told her.

"Does he?" she asked, now smiling. "I hope he appreciated your service."

"What are you talking about?" he asked. But he didn't need to. Just at that moment the screens went blank and the lights in the room extinguished; the music stopped playing.

"What did you do!" he commanded.

"Well, well, well," she said. "Is Russ nervous? You see Kimmy, I set up this room to self destruct for situations just like this one. In ten seconds you and I will die together. Good old Tom Riddle won't benefit from your deeds."

Kim Philby looked around wildly, as if the walls were going to cave in. Then he jumped up, ran the length of the room and vanished through the wall like a ghost. Ashika stared at the spot. It was impossible to do that inside the Bureau or anywhere else, for that matter! She stood up and started for her door at a run, but it was too late.

As soon as she opened the door a great blast shook the entire room and a huge fireball raced around destroying everything. Books were set ablaze, the carpet was gone in a poof of smoke, and the desk turned to ash. The explosion sent Ashika into the air and caused her to hit her head on the ceiling. The fireball grazed the back of her body as she started her descent down to the stairs, where she bounced and rolled down into her office. The secret passageway sealed itself back up, leaving no trace of a secret room.

Ashika lay unconscious, the back of her robes were burned off and her skin was starting to blacken. Blood was oozing from her head.

~~~A pocket full of posy...~~~

  
  


The next morning Sirius drove up to Jade's building and took her to a park. It was probably one of the last days the weather would hold up. The sun was exceptionally bright; few clouds dared to cross it. The grass was a deep green, waving in the wind as it rolled over the small hills. The lagoon rippled in the breeze and lapped up to the shore. 

Sirius took Jade's hand and walked with her along the bank. They really didn't say much, but they didn't need to. Knowing each other for years left them with a certain comfort. Neither one of them needed to fill the silence with words or with sighs. Jade and Sirius were perfectly content with silence.

There was another couple there, a teenage couple. They too were silent, save the smacking noises made by their avarice kissing. Sirius doubted very much that either of those kids knew the sun had just risen. When Jade saw them, she smiled and rolled her eyes.

"To be sixteen again," she said.

"You wouldn't do it again?"

"No way. Don't you remember how I was?" she said laughing. "I was an emotional nutcase. I would never do sixteen, or any teen year, again. What about you?"

Sirius cast his mind out and thought about it. His years at Hogwarts had been the best of his life. Sure, he and James were trouble makers, he'd gotten plenty of detentions to get on with, and the teachers didn't really respect him. But then he thought of all the good times. The full moons when the four of them would scurry about the grounds. Then there was the one time when he had to yank an arrow out of James... He shivered at the thought. Learning to become an Animagi had been difficult, but still had been enjoyable. He remembered how James was the fist to transform. He was very excited, grinning for days afterward. He remembered how he had done it; a simple thought and three years of research paid off. Peter struggled with it, but with James's help he made it.

And Quidditch. That feeling of freedom every time he mounted his broom... The wind breathing in his face, the competition, the looks on his opponent's faces as he pelted a bludger at them... Those were the days. The Gryffindor team had been undefeated ever since James joined.

He joined to impress Lily, Sirius thought. Those two were always overboard. Sirius thought of how James would stare at her from across the room, how he would talk to her, how he smiled whenever she was around.... It was all so revolting. It took years to finally get them together. They became so much more nauseating after that. Of course they did break up for a little while over a huge misunderstanding. As Sirius thought about it, it was terribly silly. A simple miss communication. Lily could have talked to James to sort it out. She could have been rational.

"Yeah," he said with a smile, "teenagers are a little too emotional." He had grown up since then. He had changed into a better person, or at least a more mature one. Five years ago he would never have dreamed of walking in a park with a woman he had been dating for almost a year; more time before this one. Yet here he, was walking in a park with the woman he loved.

"You want to sit down?" Jade asked, pointing to a bench.

"Sure," he said. The bench creaked as they sat. Sirius put his arm around Jade; she wrapped her arms around his chest and rest her head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head and smiled.

A toy sailboat floated towards them from across the pond. Jade watched as it drifted nearer. Then she looked around for the owner of this small craft.

"Crew must've abandoned ship," Sirius said as the boat stuck its self in the mud.

Jade looked closer at it. A small velvet box sat on the boat's deck. Jade sat up.

"Are you going to look for the captain?" Sirius asked, frowning at her. She stared back at him, telling herself it couldn't possibly be what she thought...

"Uh huh," she said, getting up and inching her way towards the boat. She squat down in front of it and lift it out of the mud and water. True Love, was written in script on the side of the boat, but the velvet box got most of her attention. She opened the box. It was empty.

Her shoulders dropped in disappointment. Sirius bent down beside her and looked into the boat.

"The True Love," he said, putting the boat back into the water. "What's in the box?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said, trying to keep the sadness out of her voice.

"Huh," he said, opening the box for himself. "That's strange."

"Why?" she asked.

"Well," he said, examining the box further, "it's a ring box, isn't it?"

"I think so," she said. "But it's empty."

"Yeah, well it's a funny thing really," he said now grinning. "I found a ring," he told her, pulling a three diamond gold ring from his pocket, "on the bench. It was just sitting there like it was waiting for me."

Jade's mouth fell slightly open.

"Why don't you try it on. Maybe it's your size," he said, taking her left hand and slipping it on her ring finger. "Look at that," he mumbled, staring into her eyes. "Perfect fit."

Jade put a hand to her mouth.

"I hope this is the one you wanted," said Sirius, still bent down on one knee. 

She nodded.

"Tradition dictates that I ask you a question. So I probably should get on with it. Jade," he said in a very serious voice, "will you marry me?"

Fighting the impulse to cry happy tears, Jade grinned. "Of course I will, Sirius."

He pulled her towards him and kissed her, conveying his happiness the best he could. After five minutes, they pulled back and stared at each other.

"I thought you would never ask," Jade said, lacing her fingers through his.

"I'm a mystery. Even to myself sometimes," he said. "What should we do first as betrothed people?"

Jade was planning her wedding inside her mind. She was thinking of her flowers, where to take the pictures, the gown, the dresses for the bridesmaids...

"What should we do?" she asked, bringing herself back to the present. She kept thinking of Sirius down at the end of the isle waiting for her, wearing dress robes and his electrifying grin. "Anything would be fine," she said. "What would you like to do?"

"Certainly not stay here kneeling in the mud," he said. He pulled both of them up, noting that he and Jade had muddy jeans. She pulled her wand out and muttered under her breath, pointing at his knees then hers. The mud vanished. Jade beamed, though not because the spell worked. "We're getting married!" she said, dancing on the spot.

"Maybe we should announce it first?" he suggested. The look on James's face would be priceless...

"Okay!" she yelled. This way she could discuss plans with Lily...

"Let's go!" he yelled back. And taking her hand, they ran to Sirius's parked motorcycle like school children.

Once they arrived at the Potter's house, news of the engagement was driven off the main highway of Sirius's mind. Sirius knocked on the door and was surprised to see James open it in such a rush.

"You've heard?" he asked with a panic stricken face.

"Heard what?" Sirius asked.

"Get in," James said, pulling Sirius inside, who in turn drug in Jade. "Ashika Narayan has been attacked."

Sirius dropped Jade's hand. "What?" he asked breathlessly.

James nodded and walked backwards into his living room. "I have to go in today. Her secretary found her in her office unconscious and bleeding from the head. They took her to St. Mungo's last I heard."

"She's your boss," Jade asked Sirius. He nodded in reply.

"Who-- ?"

"I have no idea. The security has been very tight all day, so I've been told. But then how did they attack her? It's suspicious."

"I don't want you going," Lily said, her eyes reddened after crying. "If they could get her they can get you. Please don't go!" she said, yanking at his arm. "Please, James, don't."

He sighed and took up both of her hands. "I have to go. We've been through this once already. I have to go, they need me there."

"Why can't it be someone else," she said through clenched teeth. She began to cry again. "Why you? Why do you have to go in? James, you have to stay here with us! I don't want you going into that place."

"I have to go, Lily! People need my help and I have to go."

"No you don't."

"I do and I will. I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise I'll be okay. I'll be okay," he repeated. "I'll be home soon; you won't even miss me," he said with a small smile. "Now kiss me goodbye and I'll be on my way."

Lily frowned at him and did not go on her toes to kiss him. Instead she put all of her weight on one leg, causing her hip to move to the left. She took her hands from his and crossed them, finishing off her angry appearance.

"Lily I don't have time to argue who's in charge of our marriage right now. Please send me off with love instead of anger."

She didn't move.

A falcon slipstreamed into the room. This one had an amber colored jewel on her chest and was much larger than Artemis. She flew to Sirius. He slipped out the tiny message card which resided in the falcon's jewel.

"What does it say?" James asked him.

Sirius glanced at him, then to Jade. "They want me in there, too." Jade's head spun around to look at him. "They want me there now. You too," he said pointing to James.

"That's settled then," James said, turning back to look at Lily. "I have to go. Either you wish me good luck or you stand there with that look on your face."

More tears flowed from her eyes, but she hugged him, kissed him, and said goodbye.

"I promise," he said again, "I'll come back home. Wait up for me if I have to stay over night. I love you, Lily."

"I know," she whispered. "I love you, too. Be safe."

"I will. You ready, Sirius?" he asked.

Sirius wasn't ready. His robes were still at home, his fiancee was looking at him funny, and the whole idea of Ashika being attacked was still new. "I have to Apparate back home," he said. "I'll meet you there." He turned to Jade and grabbed her shoulders. "I'll see you tonight. I love you."

And before she could say her goodbyes, Sirius Disapparated. 

~~~Ashes...~~~

  
  


He reappeared in the IWBI's Apparation chamber, only to find James pacing inside it, not unlike the first time they were in this room.

"What's the matter?" Sirius asked. "Why haven't you gone through the portal?"

He shook his head and leaned against the shiny black wall. "Maybe I shouldn't be doing this after all. Ashika was untouchable. No one could get to her except one of the higher ups. Doesn't that... creep you out?"

"Sure," Sirius said.

"I had Harry here yesterday. I mean he was here when she could've been attacked. If anything happened to him..."

"Nothing did and nothing will. They need you in there. I don't know why they need me, but I have to go too. Duty, James, duty."

James turned over to the wall and put his head on it, squishing his nose against the obsidian stone. Moisture fogged up his reflection. "Duty," he said to himself. "What about responsibility to my family? Maybe Lily was right. I hated leaving her today."

"You'll be at home in a matter of hours. Let's go through," Sirius said, pulling James by the arm to the portal. They went through as they had for three years now, blue and black lights flashing before their eyes for seconds, then landing in the entry room. Everything appeared fine but tension poisoned the air. Five security wizards stood guard and looked alert. There had always been one there, but he would stare at women as they walked by. But these five men were not to be reckoned with. After looking around for a brief second, James and Sirius continued on.

When James reported to the Director's office, he found Kim Philby in charge. He certainly didn't seem happy with the new accommodations. His hair was disheveled, his eyes red with stress, and his hand shook uncontrollably. James had only seen him once or twice, including his first day at the Bureau, but James could tell that Philby was not well.

"Good morning, sir," James said, sitting down in front of the acting Director.

He grunted in response. He started pulling Ashika's files from the cabinets, only it seemed most of them were missing. The cabinets were only a quarter full, while the rest was empty. Philby muttered to himself and shook occasionally.

"Um," James said. "I came in because I was told, sir. What is it that I'm supposed to do?"

He looked up and squinted at James. He tapped his fingers on the desk, held his tongue in between his teeth, and made some annoying clicking sounds. "What do you know," he started, now staring at a piece of parchment which was only filled halfway with writing, "about the mission to recruit spies from the Death Eater's circle?"

"Uh," James said. He started to play with his hands. "Well, I'm really not supposed to discuss that with you, sir. Only Director Narayan is to know that."

"Director Narayan is in a coma right now and in no means able to dictate orders. As Vice Director I am in charge of the Counterintelligence Sector while she is out. Therefore what you have discussed with her is now my problem. Is that clear, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, sir," he said. "The process is slow but we are having some. Morris Burg has re-established some Quidditch ties since the start of the season. He's not able to give me their names at the moment, but with more funds I'm sure he'll loosen his tongue. At the moment we know there is one spy on our side. He's passing most of the information to an outside source, who in turn reported to the Director. Burg has also told us that a few more are looking to board our bandwagon, but their names or code names have not been released."

"And this spy that you do know about," Philby said, leaning across the desk, "what is his code name?"

James opened his mouth to tell him, but stopped. If he was the Vice Director, wouldn't he know about this? Wouldn't Ashika have told Philby details such as these? James cast his mind out for another name. "Queen," he said, remembering the parchment he'd seen months ago with the code names written upon them. "It's Queen."

A very strange expression came over the Vice Director's face. James couldn't describe what emotion it was depicting, but he knew it wasn't a happy one. 

"Queen, did you say?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," James answered. The true name was Dour. James knew that Dumbledore was using him. Queen was a random name he'd picked just to be safe.

"You're sure about this?"

"Quite sure," he lied.

"Very well," he mumbled under his breath. He waved in a dismissive manner at James. "You may go."

James didn't get out of his seat. "Sir, why did you call me in today? Surely it wasn't about the spy network? You could have found that in Ashika's files. Why did you call me in?"

"You call her by her first name, do you? You must talk with her often."

"I do. Please answer my question."

Philby stood up. James stood up, too. "I want you to patrol the area."

"Patrol the area? That's what security is for. I should be organizing a strike against whoever attacked the Director. It has to be someone close to her, don't you think? She was found in her office and it's such a coincidence that she can't talk. We don't know who attacked her, but we know it had to be someone who works in her office. Don't you think, sir, that my time could be better served if I planned an operation?"

Philby glared at James with loathing in his bloodshot eyes. "I'll decide how your time is best spent, Potter. Why don't you patrol the entry way. You did very well in your training. Give the security boys a hand."

James smirked, saluted the Vice Director informally, and walked out of the office. James looked left and right into the hallway before jogging to the Analysis unit. It was one of the units, other than his own, which he was allowed entrance. "Where's Sirius Black's office?" he asked. The woman, without looking up from her magazine, pointed to the back. "Thanks."

Sirius was staring at pictures of Ashika as she lay on the floor. He had about ten of them sprawled out over his desk, each taken from a different angle.

"It's Philby," James said quietly as he entered Sirius's cubicle. 

Sirius whipped around. "The Vice Director? Are you sure?"

"Positive... I think. Listen, he asked me all about the spy for the Order. He didn't ask me to do anything other than cover the entry way. It has to be him, it has to be someone close."

"But the Vice Director? James, do you have any idea what you're saying?"

James hit the wall and clenched his teeth. "I know when something funny's going on. I'm not an idiot. You should see the way he looks, Sirius. It's not good. Go and talk to him, you'll see!"

"I'm not questioning your judgement, but you have to understand that if we accuse the Vice Director we're in serious trouble. From what I can tell from this picture something strange happened. It might have been anyone. Look," he said, enlarging a photo. "She hit her head so hard she was knocked out, but there is not a single trace of blood or hair on anything in that room. And her back. She's going to have scars for life there because she was burned. The thing is we don't know what burned her. There are no traces of fire or a Pyro spell in that office. It's as if she was injured then placed there. It might not have been Philby."

"It's Philby," James said again. "I know it, Sirius. You have to believe me. He acted all weird when I told him it was Queen who was Ashika's spy, like he knew who Queen was-- what's wrong?"

"You said it was Queen who was doubling? You actually were dumb enough to say it was Queen?" said Sirius, anger now rising in his voice.

James didn't understand. A spy was a spy, plain and simple. He knew Queen was rotten to the core because Morris hadn't said anything about a 'Queen.' "Yes, I told him that. What's the big deal, she's a spy."

"He," Sirius corrected him. "He's a spy. Look, it's a secret job were in here, so I cannot tell you what I do. But searching for moles is what I do best. We think that Wilhelm Canaris is Queen. The bloody Vice Director of the IWBI, James."

"W-what?" he said.

"Queen refers to his station, the second in command. We've been watching him for months now and the evidence suggests that it's him! But he wasn't the one who attacked Ashika, he has an alibi."

"Wait a second," James said. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is all very confusing. Wilhelm Canaris is the Vice Director of the Bureau, yes? He's Voldemort's lap dog, right? So why would anyone attack our Director if Canaris is so far up?"

Sirius shrugged. A short man came into his office and spoke to James. "Director Philby said you're to be patrolling the entry way, not chatting."

"I'm going," James said. He gave a fleeting glance to Sirius then began his way out. Sirius followed behind him. "So this is bad, right? I mean, if I'm correct in thinking that Philby is a spy, and you're correct in thinking that Canaris is a spy, then were both screwed."

"Well, if you're correct in thinking Philby is spying and you told him that Canaris is betraying Voldemort, then maybe they'll kill Canaris."

"Have you ever seen that guy?" James asked trying to remember if he'd ever encountered the man.

"Nope. He's supposed to be in a whole different sector with the Director. The CI unit is on the first floor, the Intelligence Sector is on the second floor, but the Director and Vice aren't on either. There aren't even stairs in this place, so one can't get to the other floor. It was designed that way."

They reached the entry way and stood by. "This is crazy," James said. "I am a highly trained Operations wizard. I shouldn't be babysitting these security guards. I should be out planning missions against the Death Eaters, not standing here and looking stupid."

Sirius smiled. "I don't think you look stupid," he said in a casual tone. "Not that all of this dangerous intelligence stuff is boring, cause it's not, but I have something to tell you."

James looked at him. "What's that?"

Sirius sighed. "Granted, you didn't share this information with me."

"What is it, Sirius?"

"I proposed this morning."

"You didn't!" James said, socking Sirius's shoulder.

"I did and she said yes. You're looking at Sirius the engaged, not Sirius the single. Yeah, asked her this morning and it went perfectly. I was so romantic," he said, sweeping his hair out of his eyes.

"You're getting married," James said, grinning at Sirius. "I bet Lily it wouldn't happen for years."

"You bet against me?" Sirius asked.

"No. From what I can remember of Great Sirius the Single, you didn't want to settle down with one woman and wake up to her every single day. So I was actually betting with you."

"You bet against my happiness, didn't you?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

"No, I was betting so I could boss Lily around for a while. Now I have to serve her breakfast in bed for a month. That is unless you didn't have the wedding for two years..."

"I proposed this morning, Sherlock, we haven't set a date yet. Bad luck with Lily though. Bossing her around must be a fantasy you have. Well, looks like you're in for a fascinating day, Prongs. Pity I have work to do."

"Yeah it is a pity. Hey, check to see if Philby's on our side. Look for falcons in and out of his room and the information carried. There has to be a record if he's Vice Director."

Sirius paused. "Philby doesn't get falcons. He's afraid of them."

"Afraid?" James said.

"Yeah, you know that emotion people have when they're scared."

"I know that you prat. Falcons don't deliver mail to dark wizards, that's why we use them. Burgess didn't send mail by falcon either, he used owl post."

"A lot of wizards are genuinely scared of falcons. Half the Bureau is on owl post, so the other half must transmit messages for them. Don't read too much into it. I'll be seeing you around."

"Sirius," James said, this time seriously. "Congratulations."

Sirius smiled and tried to look casual. "Thanks." He winked at James then started on his way back down the hall. The funny thing was he never saw his office again.

In what seemed like mere seconds, a plethora of events occurred. It all began with a shrill scream which nearly cracked the spines of everyone in the room. The scream was silenced before James or Sirius had completed their revolution. But when they did turn around, what they saw left a permanent impression on their minds.

Hooded figures, adorned in the blackest of robes, were emerging through the entrance portal. There had to be fifteen at the very least and more were emerging. Seven of them were already casting spells of red light at defenseless men and women. James took cover behind a table which he overturned.

"Stupefy!" he cried, pointing his wand at the apparent leader of the group. But the spell bounced right off of him. Now the hooded man was angry. He turned his masked face in James's direction and sent a silver beam of light at him. James ducked which was well, for there was a plate size crater on the wall behind him; it was smoking.

Sirius crouched low and ran over to James. "You all right?" he asked.

"Do I look all right!" James yelled. He clutched his chest and took a deep breath. "That was almost my head, dammit!" 

"Why haven't the security alarms gone off?" Sirius asked.

"Does it look like I have all of the answers right now!" James yelled again. He pulled his head above the table and fired another spell, this time knocking one of the men off their feet. "We've got to save those people," James said, pointing with his free hand to a group of unconscious men and women. One of the hooded figures was searching through their pockets. "They're looking for IDs," James mumbled. "The alarms haven't gone off," he said in a daze.

Sirius shook his head. "Someone needs to alert your unit. Maybe it should be you!"

"Yeah," James said. He teetered on his feet as if preparing to pounce. "You sure you can handle them?"

"No, that's why you're going to get help. Run, James. RUN!"

James leapt from behind the table and sprinted down the hall. He could feel the walls being blown apart behind him, as if spells had missed him by centimeters. But he didn't stop running. He thrust his wand behind him and yelled, "Impedimenta!" He didn't know if it worked and didn't look behind him to find out.

He ran into the Operations portal yelling, "We're under attack! About fifteen Death Eaters have penetrated our security. I want all units to fight them now!"

And just like the drills, people got down to business. In seconds, Operations wizards were flying to the main portal to fight. After he saw them out, James issued a five minute shut down. He also pulled the emergency alarm.

Then he ran back out. The Death Eaters had left a trail of bodies behind them, James could not tell who was alive and who was dead. He didn't have the time to check pulses. Three Death Eaters were running toward him, as if to ram him. James dashed back into the Operations War Room and stood guard. They came through.

"Stupefy!" he yelled, hitting the first one. He fell to the ground. James pointed his wand at the other. "STUPI-- "

"Silencio," he drawled, pointing his wand fortuitously at James. James tired thinking the counter curse, but nothing happened. "I wouldn't try anything if I were you," he continued, advancing on James. "Let's make this simple, shall we? Why don't you tell me who you are and what your position is, and then you can assist me."

James couldn't answer.

The Death Eater mumbled the counter curse. James kept taking steps back, while the two Death Eaters advanced. The War Room became silent and still.

"Who are you?" the leader asked.

"James Black," James said. Telling his real name could be catastrophic. "And you are?"

The two Death Eaters snickered to themselves.

"It's polite to share information in introductions," James continued. He flashed a glance towards one of his workers and signaled to the far wall.

"The enemy," the Death Eaters answered. "What is your job here?"

"Comic relief," James snapped. This time the Death Eaters did not laugh.

"I will ask you once more. What is you're position here?"

James pointed to the far wall so that only the employees could see. His eyes flickered to the wall, then back to his guests. "Administrative Assistant," James answered.

"You think you can fool me?" the man drawled.

"Maybe," James answered, now taking a step down into the room. He held his wand at the ready. "Tell my something. Why do you all hide under those cloaks? Is it to cover your hideousness? Or is it the new fashion trend? Perhaps I should pick one up for myself. Do you have an order form?"

The Death Eater was about to answer snidely when James thrust his wand toward the ceiling and cried, "OBLITERATE!" 

The War Room burst into flame from the ceiling, to the great map on the wall, and down to the floor. "Run!" James yelled, ushering the employees to the opposite wall. He ran right behind them and pushed them through the wall where an emergency Apparation chamber awaited. "Everyone go home!" James commanded. In three seconds they were all gone. James started to disappear when the two Death Eaters came into the room.

He reappeared in the main Apparation chamber of the Bureau then jogged back into the entry way. 

Where there had once been harmonious gatherings of people from around the world meeting to talk about intelligence, magical cooperation, or the latest Quidditch match, there was now chaos and death.

James put his hand to his mouth to keep from retching. At least five people were dead, blood was oozing from their ears and their eyes; wands still in their hands. Others were badly injured. James saw one lady without legs; a man who'd lost both of his hands; and another man who was crawling along the floor with half his backside gone. Then there were the wizards who were bleeding from the stomach and chest, moaning in great pain. The rest lay on the ground in a heap. James started walking towards some of them when something caught his eye.

A man with shiny black hair lay still on his stomach. James's heart nearly exploded with fear. He ran over to Sirius, hoping and praying he was okay. He knelt down beside him and rolled him over. His eyes were shut.

"Enervate," James mumbled, pointing his wand at Sirius's head.

Sirius took a great gasp of air and sat up so fast James had to hold him back.

"Where are those (he swore badly) Death Eating cowards? They think they can stun Sirius Black and not get away with it? Ha! Those mother f-- "

"We have to help everyone," James said, unable to keep from smiling now that he knew Sirius was all right. "I don't know how their doing it, but the Death Eaters have access to everything. They went into my unit and I'm positive they're in yours."

Sirius looked grim. "This is bad," he said. "They'll find out where everyone lives, all of our intelligence on them, everything. Nothing went into automatic shut down because they didn't break in, they came in."

"I know. We have to help these people before-- is that water?" he asked, feeling the top of his head. James and Sirius stared at each other, then strained their necks to look at the ceiling.

There was a crack, growing larger by the second, from which water was dripping. James put out his hand to catch some of it, then tasted it. "It's salty."

Sirius's eyes popped open. "We're in the ocean?"

"Seems that way," James said. "If there is a crack in the ceiling then that means the protective charms have also been busted. The Bureau is going to flood in a second. Help me to revive the people who've been stunned, then we need to get everyone out."

"Wait, isn't the Intelligence sector right above us?"

James froze. "Yes."

"We need to get out of here now," Sirius said. James and Sirius leapt up from the floor and pulled everyone they could into the Apparation chamber, even the dead. Using a charm that forced Apparation on people, everyone was relocated to a safe destination. James and Sirius ran back into the Bureau to find the ceiling dripping freely now.

"Sorry, what exactly are we doing in here again?" Sirius asked as they rushed inside.

"We have to put it into automatic lock down. The Death Eaters are still in here, accessing our secrets. We have to destroy it!"

"The ocean's going to do that," Sirius said.

"No, we are. Ashika established a whole system for this building to self destruct. It's in her office."

"Wait one second," Sirius said. "If we set this thing to blow, just how are we supposed to get out of here?"

"It's on a timer. We're going to have to run there and back. Ready?"

Sirius took three deep breaths. "Ready."

"Don't slip on the water. GO!" James yelled then sprint down the hall of the Bureau, Sirius right behind him. The portals seemed like wavy blurs as they passed them; the water on the shiny grey floor was rising; they were soaking wet. Once they arrived at the Director's office, they stopped.

"What if the Death Eaters are in there?" Sirius said, wiping his wet hair out of his face.

"We have to destroy the building," James said mechanically.

"That wasn't the answer to my question," Sirius said.

James cocked his head from side to side and entered through the glass-like portal. 

"Damn his nobility. Damn my loyalty. Damn my stubbornness," and closing his eyes he entered to stand beside James. "Oh look, hoodlums," Sirius said as two Death Eaters stood before them. "Can we help you find your way out?"

They had been raiding files and attempting to summon the communications tetrahedrons. When James and Sirius entered, however, they ceased all their activities.

"James Black," one of them drawled. "Perhaps you can tell me where your security files are hidden."

"Maybe you can go screw yourself," James responded.

"Your humor is lacking in creativity," the Death Eater responded.

"I think it's fine. Great humor always encompasses truth," Sirius said.

"A sidekick, how charming. And who are you?"

"Sirius Evans," Sirius said with a grin. "How retching it is to meet your unpleasantness. Why don't you get out of our place of employment before it floods."

James started scanning the room for the emergency destruct button. He knew Ashika had installed it in this room... but where...?

"Tell us how to access your place of employment and we'll be sure to spare your lives," he said.

"Um, no. Why don't you ask Canaris to do that for you," Sirius said.

"Or Kim Philby. I'm sure he'll be happy to access files for you," said James.

"So you know about our clan do you? Since we're all about to be drowned, perhaps you should know that Canaris is dead. Philby turned him in as a spy against the Dark Lord and saved his own neck for his failure to kill Director Narayan. Yes, that's right," he said to James.

James started pacing around the room, acting as though in disbelief. The button was behind the chair in the corner...

"One of us will finish her off. But for now, tell us how to access these files."

"No. I still don't understand while Philby can't tell you." James was very close to the button now... "Besides, you'll just kill us after we do what you want." It was right below his hand...

"Philby doesn't know how to access the residential files."

"Well, neither do I. Tell me," James said, pushing the button behind the chair, "do you like fire? I only ask because you'll be char-broiled in about a second. See you later boys," and James ran out as fast as he could, spells being blasted behind him. Sirius ran along side of him as they trudged through the water which was now knee high. "I can't run!" Sirius said. 

"Nor I," James replied. He took off his cloak and kept on going when he heard a faintpop behind him. A large black dog bounding ahead of him. "Good thinking!" James said. With the snap of his fingers he transformed into a tall stag with thin legs; he bound after Padfoot. 

Dead bodies were floating all over the hallways; great holes in the ceiling had torrential water falls flowing down into Counterintelligence; boulder sized fire balls were whizzing around and scorching the stone walls to ash. A great shudder shook the entire building leaving massive waves forming in the corridors and halls of the IWBI. Padfoot and Prongs reached the Apparation Portal just in time. 

James transformed back and stared. The once great institution which had employed him for three years was being destroyed. Sirius pulled him through the Apparation chamber.

"Go home," Sirius said to him. 

"We'll have to move again," James said, now shivering from the cold ocean water.

"I know," Sirius said.

The obsidian walls of the chamber were disintegrating. They had to leave now. With two loud pops, James and Sirius were gone.

***October***

  
  


The weather was cooling down again. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm. Some would argue that fall was the best time of the year. But a few people didn't have the energy to notice. 

James and Lily had moved out of their house on Willow lane. The house Harry had taken his first steps in, the house he declared who his father and mother were, the house they were planing on living in for the rest of their lives.

Lily had been in hysterics about the move for an entire week, but even more upset when James came home drenched in ocean water. It took him nearly an hour to explain, even though the story lasted fifteen minutes. Lily burst into tears of panic every five minutes. James pat her back and told her it would be fine, but he didn't believe himself. 

Moving to a different house was the least of their problems. The move was relatively easy. They found a house in secret and transported all their furniture by magic. Harry romped around the new house like a wild animal and was particularly interested in the stairwell. 

"Godric's Hollow is a good place," James told Lily for the umpteenth time. "There are more wizard families here than in any other community. I grew up here. We'll be fine." But that explanation didn't satisfy her.

At night, wearing the invisibility cloak, Lily went outside and put as many concealment charms on her house that she could think of. She came back into her house shaking with nerves.

"Mama," Harry said, walking towards her with his arms up and wide. She gave him a feeble smile then lift him up into her arms.

"Give mama a kiss," she told him.

He smiled then planted his lips on her cheek, hugging her neck with his small arms. She walked through her kitchen, through the swinging door, across living room, and up the stairs to her bedroom.

James was sitting on the bed, pointing his wand at the laundry and folding socks and t-shirts. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," Lily said back. She set Harry on the bed, who did a great belly flop into the laundry, giggling as the socks piled over him. "I put some more charms on the house."

"Good," he said, nodding his head.

"I don't want anyone coming over here."

"Except Sirius...and Jade, right?" he asked. He made a pair of folded socks spin right above Harry.

"Sure," she said slowly. "If you think that's okay."

"They're not the ones. Lily we can't live like this. We have to make contact with other people or we'll go insane. We'll get cabin fever and kill each other if we can't talk to anyone but ourselves."

"I suppose. Should we send Harry to preschool?" she asked, pulling him out of the laundry. "He'll learn to play with other kids his age and share with them. He hasn't really seen anyone his age. Wizards have preschool, right?"

"Yes. But he won't start until he's at least three. That's fifteen months down the road."

"He looks so much like you," she said.

"Thank goodness. I would hate having a kid who looks as ugly as you are," he said with a grin. "Oh, where did you put my cloak?"

"In the trunk in the attic. You're not thinking about giving to Harry are you?" she asked, sneaking a glance at him.

"No," he said a little too quickly, not meeting her eye. "I caused too much trouble with that thing. I wouldn't dream of giving to him," he said half laughing.

"Good, because I don't want him to have it."

"Nor I," he said. "Should we put him to you know where? It's nearly nine." Harry was crawling all over the bed, occasionally resting his head on James or Lily's leg. "Harry are you tired?"

"No," he said, yawning and laying down across Lily's lap.

"That's word four, isn't it? 'Dada,' 'mama,' 'yeah,' and 'no.' He's got the basics."

"He needs a B-A-T-H before he goes to B-E-D. You want to help me?"

"He doesn't smell, are you sure we have to... you know what? Can't we do it in the morning when we're rested and fresh? He'll throw a tantrum like he always does. I'm not in the mood to deal with that."

"He has to. He's been running around getting dust all over him. He needs to be washed. It doesn't take long; he's little."

"He's cranky. I dare you to say the word. He'll flip out."

Lily smiled, picked Harry up so that he faced her, then she spoke, "Let's have a bath." The reaction was amazing. Harry started by shaking his head then his spine seemed to give out, and soon he was crying with no tears. Lily continued. "Yeah, Harry, Daddy and I are going to give you a bath. Doesn't that sound fun?"

He was wailing now, still no tears. James jumped off the bed and went into the bathroom down the hall, where he drew the bath. Lily and Harry came in just after. She set Harry on the floor but he wouldn't stand. Instead he collapsed down on his back, screaming loudly and kicking. Lily tried taking off his shirt, but Harry hit her. James started laughing. 

"He acts like we're torturing him. This fear of the bath phase only lasts a little while, right?"

Lily peeled the shirt off then pulled of Harry's pants, even though he was kicking like mad. "Yes," she answered. She lift Harry up so James could take off the diaper, then they plopped him in the tub where he continued to protest. Lily held onto him while James did all the scrubbing. 

After using No Tears baby shampoo and conditioner and rinsing his body and hair, they pulled him out of the tub and dried him in a soft towel. He stopped crying but he was not smiling.

"There, all clean," Lily said kissing him. "Now you can go night-night. Let's take you to you're crib," she said, walking just a little down the hall into his room. She put on his pajamas and lay him down in his crib. 

"Mama," he said, pulling her hair.

"You want me to sing to you?" she asked, tucking him in. He nodded. "Okay. Close your eyes," she said, demonstrating. Harry closed his eyes. "That's my good boy," she whispered. And very softly she sang to him, as she had done for over a year.

"Don't lose your way,

  
  


With each passing day.

  
  


You've come so far,

  
  


Don't throw it away.

  
  


Live believing

  
  


Dreams are for winning,

  
  


Wonders are waiting to start.

  
  


Live your story;

  
  


Faith, hope, and glory.

  
  


Hold to the truth in your heart.

  
  


If we hold on, together

  
  


I know our dreams will never die.

  
  


Dreams see us through to forever

  
  


Where clouds roll by

  
  


For you and I."

  
  


Harry was breathing deeply now. Lily knew he was asleep. She kissed him on the forehead and turned off the light so he could sleep in peace.  
  


Most of October was spent indoors, as Lily feared any intruders into what she considered a perfect life. She told her husband she was afraid that it would all crumble away. She had a great man, a beautiful baby boy, and the health of her family. What more could anyone ask with current events?

With such news as the International Wizard Bureau of Investigation going under, literally, and the death of their Vice Director, James thought the Daily Prophetwould have carried it. But when compared with other stories, the IWBI's was second rate. It was as if Voldemort was enraged at the failures of his Death Eaters to obtain information from the Bureau. 

The attacks made by his Death Eaters increased two fold. Each attack made The Daily Prophet, accompanied by pictures of the victims with short blurbs about their lives. 

Lily stopped reading the paper for good.

James read every issue twice trying to find out how the Death Eaters broke into the Bureau, but to no avail. The story was given half a page and the cause was still unknown.

"They didn't break in!" James told Sirius, Lily, and Jade for the seventh time. "They waltzed in like they'd done it every day. That's impossible! Geez I wish that woman would wake up!" 'That woman' would be Director Narayan who was still deep in a coma. For her safety, only specified hospital staff were allowed to see her. She had been in a coma for four weeks now, which was by no means a long amount of time. Some people, Muggles even, could be in a coma for years.

"We can't rouse people with magic from their sleep!" a nurse told James when he asked about her. "It's dangerous to her body and mind. Now leave us alone!" The hospital staff told him they would inform James when she woke.

When James wasn't pacing around the house trying to solve the break in mystery, Sirius throwing in possibilities, he spent time with Harry. James was technically unemployed. He was glad, therefore, that he invested his inheritance and earnings wisely. The Potters worried about a great many things, but money was never a problem.

Lily's inheritance was also quite vast. She had decided to sell quite a bit, but she kept her father's Ferrari and the manor where she grew up. The rest was liquidated, converted into galleons, and added to James's inheritance to form a rather large sum of money. Lily liked to spend time not thinking about anything outside of number six Calvary Way, Godric's Hollow. She insisted that Jade bring bridal magazines, floral arrangements, cake magazines, and the like to the house, to discuss her wedding.

While Lily was busy critiquing gowns and bridesmaids dresses, James took Harry into his bedroom and wrestled with him. He would get down on hands and knees and charge Harry's stomach with his head. Harry would laugh so cutely that James's growls and roars were often interrupted with laughter. 

James would advance on Harry, making a scary noise, while Harry would charge his father's head, holding onto James's ears with his tiny hands. James would then throw Harry to the ground (yes, gently) and give him a loud raspberry. Sometimes the two were so loud, Lily would come up to make sure everything was okay.

"Fine," James would say as he threw Harry onto the bed. Harry would get up, grinning, and run back at James, who would pick him up again and toss him back.

"Be careful with him," Lily would say, holding her hands to her eyes as if trying to block the scene from view. "You're too rough with him. He's only fifteen months!"

"I am not too rough with him," James said, taking hold of Harry's ankles and holding him upside down. "We're just playing. I've only had to put his eyes back in twice. Right, Harry?"

"Yeah," he giggled, hanging upside down. His black hair looked long as it hung inches from the bed.

On October 17, 1981 James walked down the stairs as he slipped on a traveling cloak. Sirius had stopped by for a short chat about best man duties for James, but was leaving in a few minutes to see Jade. James was sliding a package inside his cloak pocket when he heard Lily holler down to him from the second floor.

"What?" James hollered back. Harry was starting to crawl up the stairs as James stood bellow them.

"Where is your invisibility cloak?" She didn't sound happy.

"It's not up in the attic?" he asked.

"NO! Do you have it, James?"

James pulled a wrapped package from his cloak and threw it to Sirius, who deftly caught it. "No, dear," he answered truthfully.

"You promised me yesterday you wouldn't give that cloak to my son!" she yelled.

"I won't!" James yelled back. "Look sweetie, you keep looking for it while I go out, okay? I'm going to see Dumbledore about some business and I'm taking Harry with me. I love you, Lily," he said with a grin. "See you in a bit. Smoochie, smoochie!"

"Be careful! I love you!"

"I love you more!" He walked away from the stairwell and pulled Harry off the third step. "Let's go see the Professor." He took Harry in one arm and the wrapped cloak from Sirius in the other.

"You do realize," Sirius said, "that in ten years when Lily finds out that Harry has the cloak, she'll slice you open and sell your intestines for research."

"Harry won't tell her he has it. This is my son we're talking about. He'd never rat me out. Besides, Lily doesn't understand how important this is. The cloak is a family heirloom and needs to be passed onto each Potter. Harry is the next in the generation so he should have it."

Sirius raised one eyebrow. 

"You look just like Lily when you do that. Go see your fiancé and leave me alone. Harry needs the cloak. We needed it; he'll need it. Have a nice day." With Harry sitting comfortably on James's hip, James left.

Just like always, James was flooded with memories when he entered Hogwarts. He could tell by the atmosphere that Quidditch season was rapidly approaching . The animosity between Slytherin and Gryffindor must surely be reaching a boiling point.

"Look, Harry," James whispered as he pointed into the empty Great Hall. "That's your table and up there, you see, that's where the teachers sit. The students must be in class right now, don't you think?" 

Harry's eyes were wide as he examined this huge castle. His head twitched as his eyes darted all around him. As James continued onto the Headmaster's office, Harry pointed to most everything and said "Dada." 

"That's a painting," James explained. "And that over there is a statue. And that woman," James said as Professor McGonagall emerged from her office, "she'll be the head of your house and your transfiguration teacher."

Professor McGonagall, who was hardly ever seen smiling, stopped dead in her tracks and stared at Harry, her eyes bright. James approached her with half a smile. The Professor took small steps toward him, her hands quivering.

Harry stared; his hands clutched onto James even tighter as the stranger approached.

"This is your son?" she asked.

"No," James said. "No, I just found him wandering around outside and I thought I'd take him." He grinned.

Professor McGonagall smirked. "Nothing changes, I see."

"Thank goodness it doesn't. So this is Harry, your future student. Harry can you say 'hi'?" he asked, looking back at Harry's wide eyed face.

He kept staring at McGonagall who was beginning to smile at him. But his mouth stayed tightly sealed.

"He looks just like you," she said. 

"Yeah. Do me a favor; don't tell him that. I have a feeling he'll be reminded quite often. Is the Headmaster in?" he asked as he began walking again.

"Yes. I'm sure you remember where his office is located," she said with a hint of a smirk on her lips. "Let us hope the younger Potter won't see the office as often as you have." And with a quick nod to Harry, she continued on her way.

James walked briskly to the stone gargoyle then remembered he didn't know the password. He was just about to start spewing different sweet brands, when the gargoyle moved aside and the revolving staircase appeared. Harry tensed up; James mounted the stairs.

The door opened a little so Harry could walk through. His father was a step behind him, but still close by, which Harry checked twice a second. Harry walked into the office a bit awkwardly; his feet hit the floor hard and he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Just then a bird, reddish gold in color, swooped down to the floor and landed feet from Harry. The bird hopped closer to him. Harry smiled and reached out to touch the magnificent bird.

"That's Fawkes the Phoenix, Harry," James informed him. "You'll learn all about them when you get older."

"That and other fascinating subjects in which I'm sure he will excel," said Dumbledore as he walked towards James, "if he's anything like his parents." He beamed at James then bent down to see Harry. "I daresay you remember me?"

Harry backed into James's leg and held on tight, hiding behind it and peering around the right side to look at Dumbledore.

"He's a little shy," James said.

"He sure has grown," Dumbledore commented. "I hoped he would have Lily's eyes."

"So did Lily. Speaking of which," he said as he extracted the squishy package from his pocket, "I want you to give this to Harry when he comes here."

Dumbledore took it with a questioning smile. "And may I ask what it is I will be giving?"

James cleared his throat and glanced away from his former Headmaster. "It's an invisibility cloak."

Dumbledore laughed; Harry buried his face in James's robes. "This explains a bit. I had wondered how you and Sirius had broken into the Slytherin common room without anyone seeing you."

James allowed himself a grin. "My secret's out. The cloak was given to me by my father and his father before him. Lily, however, has made me swear that I wouldn't give it to Harry. That limits my options, you see."

"So you'll have me deliver it to him for you?" Dumbledore asked.

James nodded. "If you wouldn't mind. Not a word to Lily or she'll skin me alive."

"Ah. Knowing Lily I would venture that she already suspects you. But that is not my business. Now," he began as he lay the cloak on one of his many shelves, "your situation is becoming precarious. While I trust Lily's charm work I also know that Lord Voldemort has a wide knowledge of magic."

"What are you implying?" James asked.

"Nothing at the moment. For now you are safe. From what my source has told me, however, you might want to be more careful and leave your home only when necessary. The Death Eaters who invaded your Bureau made it out without a scratch. It was very wise of you to move your family when you did. Other employees were not so lucky."

James swallowed hard; it hurt when the saliva traveled down his throat. "Why didn't you mention this at the meeting?" he asked silently, as though afraid they might be over heard.

"I wasn't aware of these facts on October the first. Use caution, James."

"I am cautious," he insisted. Dumbledore turned the other way and began walking.

"There is a spy. Someone you know. Whoever it is, he's been watching you."

"Who could it be?" James said in an accusatory sort of way. "I trust my friends."

"You're friends do not trust your friends. Sirius came to me last month and expressed his concern that Remus was a spy. He said Remus was dating a mysterious woman who can't be trusted. He also told me, recently, that Remus has been acting strangely."

"You think it's him?" James asked. "You think it's Remus?"

"I do not know. Remus came to me after Sirius did and expressed concern that Sirius could be working for Voldemort."

"What! That's crazy. Sirius is my best friend, he couldn't be working for Voldemort."

"According to Remus," Dumbledore continued as if James had not interrupted him, "Sirius has been acting strangely whenever he was around him. Recently Remus said that Sirius has been acting secretive, keeping things hidden, and asking too many questions. He also mentioned the prank Sirius pulled in your sixth year that put Severus Snape's and your life at a great risk."

"It's not Sirius," James insisted. "We've known each other since we were kids, Dumbledore! He's my best friend! I've entrusted him with Harry and would my life if I'd needed to."

Harry tugged at his father's robes then lift his arms and hopped. James reached down and hoist him up. Harry's face screwed up like he was preparing a tantrum. James blew air in his face and Harry grinned. His tuft of black hair fluffed up as he laughed. "I need to take him back home," James said. "Lily's probably worked herself into a right state by now. She'll want him back."

Dumbledore sighed and folded his hands. "Just be careful with what you say to people. And watch your step."

James didn't know how to respond. It was the kind of advice everyone gave but few meant. It was generalized advice, but Dumbledore said it with such conviction it worried him.

"I have to go," James said. Dumbledore shut his eyes and nodded. 

"I understand," he replied.

"I'll see you November first, then?"

"Yes," Dumbledore replied, his open eyes twinkled. "November first. Tell Lily I said hello."

"I will. Goodbye." James backed out of the office and headed home.

***October 24, 1981***

  
  


"I thought only Muggles did blood tests," Sirius said as Jade dragged him into a medical office. She released his hand and walked to the receptionist. "Blood tests," he mumbled to himself as he sat on a couch. "What kind of disease could I possibly have?" He looked through some magazines: Witch Weekly, Home and Cavern, Wizards Health, Quidditch: Today. He tookQuidditch: Today and threw the rest down.

"They'll have us in soon," Jade said as she sat beside Sirius. She picked up Home and Cavern and began sifting through the pages. "We need to look at houses," she said. "I was thinking some place in the country. It's quite there."

"Yeah," Sirius said. He was reading an article about Quidditch training and seemed enthralled by it. 

"I think we should look for homes in a few weeks, don't you think?" she asked him, now closing her magazine.

"Whatever you say, love," he answered. He kept reading.

"I was thinking I'd sleep with the realtor so we could get a better deal," she said casually, watching Sirius's face.

"Whatever you think, Jade," he said.

Jade smirked and continued on. "Maybe afterwards I'll flash whoever comes to look at our apartments. We'll have to sell them to afford a new place. Flashing will raise the price."

Sirius looked up this time. "What are you talking about?"

"Lights," Jade said firmly. "Light fixtures. Chandeliers, floating candles..."

"That's what I thought," he replied. He went back to his article. Jade shook her head and laughed, mumbling 'men,' under her breath.

"Jade and Sirius?" a plump woman said. Jade got up and grabbed Sirius by his upper arm and yanked him into the office. 

"What are you reading?" Jade asked as they entered their private testing room.

"A magazine," he said.

"Oh really?" she said sarcastically. She snatched it out of his hands and read the title. "'Imprinting: Teaching your Child the Basics of Quidditch.' Right up your ally. You think our children are going to be Quidditch players?"

"Without a doubt," he said then kissed her. "You're good with that, right?"

"Yes. I want a little Chaser in the family."

The nurse came back into the room holding two syringes. Sirius tensed up and scooted back in his chair. "Wh-what are th-those?" he asked.

"Needles to draw the blood," the nurse said. She started scribbling on a clipboard.

"N-Needles? Sharp n-needles?" 

"That's right," the nurse replied.

The color in Sirius's face started to fade. He braced himself on his chair and endured Jade's laughter. "You can't just wave a wand and know if we're healthy?" Sirius said.

"I have to have samples so we can add a potion to it. The potion tells us if you have any diseases. You're not afraid of needles are you, Mr. Black?"

Sirius let out a chuckle which sounded forced. "Me? I'm not afraid of anything, especially needles."

"Then let's take your blood first," she said, needle at the ready. Sirius backed up further into the wall but found he could not go through it.

"You stick me with that thing and I'll bite you," Sirius snapped.

The nurse seemed unaffected. "You either let me take a sample of your blood or you don't get married," she said simply. 

Sirius looked at Jade. Her eyebrows were raised but she wore a smile. He knew she was thinking he was a wimp. He didn't care. He knew he was a wimp when it came to anything that had to do with his blood or anyone else's blood. It was his one weakness.

"Should I go first, honey?" Jade asked, rubbing the side of his arm.

"Okay," Sirius said with a sigh of relief. 

Jade laughed again then kissed him. "I love you, Sirius."

"I'm glad," he answered.  
  


The Wizarding Wireless Network was calling it the last sunny day of the year. Still, clouds crossed the dull yellow sun and cast shadow patches along the ground. James looked outside longingly. His backyard was calling to be played in.

"We're nearly out of food," Lily said as she rummaged through the cupboards. "I'll have to go to the store to get us sustenance. You'll stay here and watch Harry?"

He turned away from the window to face her. "Which store?"

"The one in Diagon Alley."

"How are you getting there and how will you disguise yourself?"

"Floo powder, brown hair and heavy set. Can I go now, Dad?" she asked. There was a burst of green flames in their fireplace. Sirius and Jade fell out of it, coughing.

"Don't you think whoever's watching you is also monitoring the Floo network?" Sirius asked. He swept the ashes from his clothes and helped Jade.

"Yes, but more people travel by Floo than by Apparation. The Ministry has more eyes on people who Apparate than those using the Floo network. Why are you here?" James asked.

"No reason," Sirius answered.

"I was just about to go to the store. Jade, do you want to come with me?" Lily asked.

"Yes, Jade, please go with her for extra protection," James said. Lily rolled her eyes as she head upstairs to her bedroom. Jade followed her after agreeing to go. She ran to catch up with Lily and began the blood test story.

"The real reason I came over," Sirius said in a low voice as he pulled a crumpled paper out of his pocket, "is this." He handed James the magazine article he had read earlier that day. James unfolded it, flattened it out on the kitchen counter, and read. When he was finished his eyes lit up. "Good idea isn't it? You know Harry's going to be a Seeker, right? You should start training him now."

James shoved the article into his pocket as he heard Lily and Jade come down the stairs, laughing. Lily had preformed the weight charm perfectly. She looked about thirty pounds heavier, her hair was mousy brown and curled, and her lips were a different shade of pink. Jade too looked different. She elongated her nose, made her hair shorter, and chest bigger. Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"You two be good while I'm gone," Lily said. She gave James a squishy hug and kiss then walked to the fireplace. Jade did the same with Sirius, though he hugged her for much longer. "Be good," Lily repeated, shaking her finger at James.

"I will. Be careful. I love you."

"I love you more." She tossed a pinch of Floo powder into the fireplace, stepped in, and vanished.

"I'll see you later Sirius. I love you," and she too disappeared within the flames. James and Sirius then hovered over the article.

"It says here that teaching them how to fly early helps them in the future," James said. "We should take Harry out for a go. Lily has that harness she puts him in when she goes places, right? Well I'll strap it to myself and stick him inside it and take to the skies. I wish I could find out where she put it."

"Summon it," Sirius suggested. 

"Right. Accio Harness!" he said. A black nylon harness flew into his hands moments later. James strapped it to himself as he jogged up the stairs and hung a left into Harry's room.

"Dada!" Harry said from his crib. He got up and reached toward his father.

"Hey buddy," James said. "You want to learn to fly? Do you? Let's put you in the Quidditch robes I got for you, when you lived inside your mother." He went to the closet and pulled out the scarlet and gold robes and laid them out. Harry raised his arms so James could lift him out of the crib for changing.

Harry knew the drill. He lay down flat and allowed his father to clean his bottom and slap on a new diaper. Then he practically dressed himself as James guided his hands and feet in the right direction. 

Harry picked up the comb from the window sill and gave it to James.

"This won't help in the future, you know," he said, taking it from a grinning Harry and combing his hair then Harry's. "It works now because your hair is soft baby hair. In about three years don't even bother, no matter what your mother tells you. Now let's go learn how to fly a broom."

Harry was strapped in the harness so his back was on James's chest. He looked up and kept touching his father's face. Then James got his broom and headed back down stairs to Sirius.

"Oh my goodness," Sirius said, holding his hand to his gaping mouth. "I never use this word, but this calls for the word. You two look so cute. There's just no other word. I wish there was another word, because I don't think me saying 'cute' is a good thing. But that's what this is."

"Thanks. You ready?"

"You sure you want to go outside? Flying around will get you a lot of attention."

James hesitated but then headed for the back door. Sirius jumped a little then followed. "It's like Hogwarts all over again except now there's an extra Potter. Where are you going to start?"

James dropped the broom on the grass and stood to the left of it. "The basics," he answered. "All right Harry, listen up. The first thing you need to do is stick your right hand over the broomstick and command 'up!' You got that?" Harry was looking up at him as if hanging on every word. "Here we go." James put his right hand over his Nimbus and firmly stated, "UP!" It flew into his hands. Harry laughed and pulled at his robes. "Now I'm going to mount it," James said as he swung a leg over and straddled the broom. "Now when I first did this I thought for sure I'd been in pain, but they've got this cushioning charm to prevent that. So don't be afraid to mount the broom. Now we're going to hover a little..." And they rose in the air. "What's his face like, Sirius?" he asked.

"He's grinning like a fool," he answered.

"I knew he would. He loves the wind in his face. We're going higher," he sang and the broom rose into the air. "To steer it you lean. It's like a bicycle in a way. So we lean left and we go left. If you want to go faster you lean forward and slowing down you lean back. Simple physics. You got all that, Harry?"

He looked up at James again, beaming.

"We should do some loops and turns," James said to himself. "You should get acquainted with maneuverability. Yeah, let's do that." James sped up considerably and performed tight turns, deep dives, and long loops. Harry never once protested. Instead he laughed the entire time and tried reaching for towards the broom. James thought he wanted to steer. 

The October wind was cool but pleasant. The birds were singing lovely tunes... some of them not so lovely... As a matter of fact it sounded as though they were singing 'James.' He turned the broom around to face his house when he saw a dark red haired woman looking up at him. He thought he stopped breathing.

Racking his brain for a good excuse for his behavior, James descended to the ground, covering Harry with his cloak as if he could hide him. 

"Lily my love," he said. "Back so soon?"

"Don't you 'my love' me you jack ass." She was back to normal size but somehow she looked much taller. Here eyes seemed to glow not with love, but with danger. James was sure that laser beams were about to shoot out of her eyes and burn his stomach to ash. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

His brain failed him. He had to go with the truth. "Flying," he said with a brave smile.

"Flying?" Lily asked. "Flying!"

"Yes, dear," he said. He looked over a little to see Sirius burying his face in his hands. Jade was beside him. It was hard to read her emotion.

"Where is my baby?" Lily asked. 

"Baby?" James asked stupidly. "What baby?"

"Don't even try to worm your way out of this one. My baby! Your son! Harry!"

And from the depths of James's robes a little hand emerged, accompanied by a small, muffled voice which said, "Mama!"

James went scarlet. Lily marched over, her eyes still burning with lividness, and opened James's cloak. "Mama!" Harry said, smiling. He reached for her, kicking his legs in excitement.

While boring holes into James's eyes, Lily unlatched all of the harness straps and pulled Harry from it, holding him close to her. Then she turned around and walked into the house. "Follow me," she said. James was reminded of the Grim Reaper saying 'it is time.' He followed her into the house. Sirius was right behind him. "You two," she said pointing to James and Sirius, "sit."

They sat on the sofa. Lily handed Harry to Jade to take out of the living room. Lily was silent for a good minute as she paced in front of the sofa. Then she returned to glaring at James. "What," she started in a strangely low and ominous voice, "were you doing?" She put stress on each syllable of each word.

James started fiddling with his hands. "Well," he began in a high pitch voice, "it's kinda funny, really. You see Sirius had the idea that we could teach Harry how to fly-- "

"Stop," Lily said. "You were trying to teach my baby to fly?"

"That's it exactly Lily, sweetums. You hit it right on the head."

"And why were you doing that?" she continued.

James glanced sideways at Sirius.

"Today," Sirius said, "I was looking through this Quidditch magazine and I found an article that talked about imprinting. You know what that is don't-- of course you do. Anyways, so I found the article and I thought it would be great to show James. The younger you teach a child to fly, the better they fly later on in life. That's why James was instructing Harry." Lily's grave expression did not change. "For the record," Sirius stated, "I never told James to do this."

James whipped his head around. "What? It was your bloody idea! Lily, it was his idea. I wouldn't have ever dreamt of taking our baby up into the sky like that. You know me."

"Yes," she said, "I know you. You've been obsessed with that sport since I met you. I thought after graduation you would calm down about the sport. But I come home today after, I told you to behave yourself, and I find you outside in the air with my fifteen month old baby!"

"But it was Sirius's idea," James said feebly.

"Who is Harry's father?" Lily asked.

"Good point," Sirius added hastily. Lily shot him a fiery stare. He shut his mouth.

"I am," James said.

"And who, then, decides what is right for Harry? His father or his father's best friend?"

"His father," James answered.

"How old are you?" Lily asked.

"Twenty-one."

"Don't you think that by twenty-one, having been married for three years and a father since July of 1980, that you should have some kind of idea about responsibility? Don't you think a twenty-one year old husband and father should at least act mature? Don't you think you should do what is best for your son?"

"Yes," James said.

"Do you think a responsible father would take his baby out for a joy ride?"

He shook his head and looked at his feet. "I just wanted him to have a good time," James said. "He really liked it and it was safe. I wouldn't ever put Harry in harms way."

"What you did was reckless and dangerous," Lily said.

"I had him in a safety harness," James insisted. "He was fine. He's not hurt!"

"He could have been!"

"But he's not!" James yelled back. "I would never put him in danger! You know how much I love our son. You know damn well! You're not the only parent around here, Lily!"

"I'm the only safe one!" she hollered. "Fifteen months old is too young to be learning how to fly a damn broomstick! He only knows four words, for crying out loud!"

"Harry was safe," he said softly. "I can't believe you would think I'd put him in a bad situation."

"I can't believe you were sneaky enough to wait until I left so you could perform your stupid stunt. I hope you have a pillow downstairs because you are not staying with us."

"You can't take him," James said, pointing at her as she moved to the stairs. "He's just as much mine as he is yours. Don't you dare stop me from seeing him, Lily. He's my baby, too. Don't you dare walk up those stairs," he said as he followed her up. She kept her back to him as she turned right for their bedroom. She opened the door and slammed it in his face. He went for the nob but she'd locked it. "Open the door, Lily," he said. "Open the damn door!"

"No," he heard her reply.

"Open this door, dammit!" he screamed, slamming his entire body against it. He could hear Harry crying inside. "Open the door before I bust it open!"

"You will not bust open that door," Lily replied.

"You let me in, then!"

"I don't want you around my baby when you're this angry."

"Your baby? He's mine too. Let me in or so help me God, Lily."

"Or else what?" she said. "You put him in danger by taking him outside where you both could have been attacked. Didn't you think about that?"

"I've been cooped up in this house for a week. Nothing happened, we're both fine."

"You're not," she said.

James slammed against the door again; Harry cried louder. "Stop it!" she yelled. "You're scaring Harry!"

James stepped back and whipped out his wand. "Alohomora!" he cried. The door flung open and he stepped inside. Lily pushed him back. "Get out," she said, her face drenched in tears and anger. "Stay away from him!"

"I am not going to hurt him!"

"I won't let you near him this angry," she said pulling out her wand. "You get out!"

"No, you can't keep me away from my child."

Lily pointed the wand at him in a threatening manner. "I don't want to but I will if you don't get out right now," she said, pointing the wand at his chest. James put his hands out towards her.

"Just calm down, okay?" he said to her but more to himself. "Calm down," he said again.

"Please just go out for a little while, okay?" she said. "Just for a little while."

James looked at Harry. He was seated on the bed crying, with Jade holding on to him. She looked nearly as scared as he did. James glanced back at Lily, nodded, then backed out of the room and closed the door. He sauntered down the stairs and rubbed his eyes. Sirius stood at the bottom with a questioning look on his face.

"Are you all right?" he asked. "That was really scary."

"She thinks I'm irresponsible? My memory's telling me that I was the one, not her, who wanted Harry to have a full time parent around at all times, wasn't I? She was the one who needed convincing," James said angrily.

"I think the both of you are under a lot of stress. You've kept yourself in this house for so long. You're unemployed because the Bureau is gone, so you can't go any where. She doesn't have any place to get away to either. It's cabin fever."

The bedroom door opened and Jade emerged. She walked timidly down the stairs and stared at the two of them. "She's just stressed out right now," she said. "She needs some time alone. You both need time alone and away from each other."

"It's so nice to get marriage advice from two people who have never been married," James commented. He walked back into the living room and threw himself on the couch where he lay motionless.

"We're only trying to help," Jade said.

"Well it's not working right now. Please go away and leave us alone. That will be enough help. The less people in this house the better." He couldn't see Jade's or Sirius's facial expressions. He was staring at the ceiling, but didn't see it. His vision was clouded by anger and frustration. He heard Jade shuffle toward the fireplace; he felt Sirius stare at him; he heard the fire ignite; he could smell the smoke die. He was alone again.

James lay there for hours. Watching the ceiling he could see the light fade away as the clouds accumulated in the sky. The soothing sound of tapping on the roof told him it was raining. The fresh scent of wet grass and mud wafted through the windows and somehow calmed him. Then it became dark. The crickets seemed to be auditioning for a great symphony; tuning their instruments for a performance. Lights from the few passing cars left strange patterns on the walls. James sighed.

They say time heals everything. He thought about the expression and smiled. By the time he moved to glance at the clock on the ceiling, it read four a.m. He sat up slowly, pulled off his robes, then made his way up the stairs.

His bedroom door was unlocked so he opened it. Lily was curled up on top of the bed above the covers, fully dressed. Harry was asleep in his play pen with several blankets piled on top of him. He was clutching a stuffed animal.

James eased his way to the bed and crawled over to Lily, the bed creaked with his weight. Her hair fell all around her face especially on her cheeks. He lay down beside her, his chest to her back. He pulled the hair off her face and bent his head down to kiss her. She stirred but did not wake. Her hair was thick and soft; he felt it in his hands and against his lips while he relocated it so her neck was exposed. One of his arms found her waist and wrapped around it. She was still warm. He began to kiss the nape of her neck, then moved down toward her shoulder.

She moved her legs back and forth then raised her chin as if to turn around to see James. He felt her hand cover his; she didn't move it from her waist. He continued to lightly kiss her neck and cheek even as she started to roll over to face him. Lily rest her left hand on the side of his face and let her fingers travel through his hair. Then she slipped off his glasses. He moved closer to her and kissed every inch of her face; he could feel her smiling. He came away so he could look upon her.

"Lily, I'm-- "

"Shhh," she whispered, touching his lips with her finger. "Let's not talk about it now." She nudged his right shoulder as to push him flat. He went with the movement and lay on his back, then she took the next move and rest herself on top of him. He went to kiss her, but as he raised his head up to meet her, she started to pull off his shirt.

"Harry's in here," he whispered as she threw his shirt to the floor. She sat up and took off her sweater.

"Then we'll keep it down," she said. James grinned but shook his head.

"That'll be hard," he said with a chuckle. He had his hands under her shirt and his lips on hers when he swore he heard something. He pulled away to listen. Lily didn't seem to hear it for now she was all over his neck. He closed his eyes and rest his head against hers when he definitely heard something.

"Do you hear that?" he asked her. She looked into his eyes and flipped her hair away from their faces.

"Hear what?" They both listened. There was a knocking coming from down stairs. "Someone's at the door," she said. They both bolted off the bed, threw on their robes, and ran downstairs, wands at the ready. James put on his glasses, checked the peep hole, then looked at Lily with bewilderment.

"It's Dumbledore," he said.

"It's four in the morning," she said. "Well, open the door," she said. James did so and Dumbledore nearly fell inside. He didn't appear calm or collected like usual.

"I have bad news," he said gravely. "I came as soon as I found out."

"Found out what?" James asked, reaching for Lily's hand.

Dumbledore walked towards a chair and sat down. "Please, sit," he said. They sat close together on the sofa and watched Dumbledore with bated breath. "As you know I have a very trustworthy spy on the inside of Voldemort's circle. He has informed me just minutes ago that Voldemort is going to come after you."

His words seemed to reverberate off the walls. Lily gripped James tighter and looked to him. James swallowed hard and tried to ignore his thumping heart. He suddenly felt light headed.

"What?" he asked.

Dumbledore nodded and folded his hands. "Voldemort will come for you, personally, as I understand."

"Why?" Lily asked, her voice shaking. "Why us?"

But James could think of a few good reasons. Dumbledore answered for him. "He knows you are members of the Order of the Phoenix. He knows that it was James who stopped his Death Eaters from accessing confidential files at the Bureau. He is aware of your hindrance to his efforts. And..." he stopped suddenly then continued on, "...and he want's to kill Harry."

Lily almost shrieked and began to cry. James thought he felt his insides melting. "Why? Why does he want to kill Harry? He's only a baby, Dumbledore. Why could he possibly want to kill my baby?" James asked. His eyes started to burn.

"I'm not quite sure," Dumbledore said. Lily leapt from the couch and ran up the stairs, presumably to check on Harry. Dumbledore lowered his head.

"What are we supposed to do?" James asked.

"I have a plan that should protect the three of you from Voldemort or any of his followers. Minerva is to bring the spell book. She should be here shortly. I came as soon as I got word of his plans. Maybe you remember the Fidelius charm? It's a highly complex charm which will effectively hide you. Your location will be kept within a Secret-Keeper; a single person who will hold your secret. He is the only person who can reveal your location."

"Sirius," James said immediately. "It should be Sirius."

Dumbledore was just going to respond when there was another knock at his door. Dumbledore got up and let Minerva McGonagall in, who was carrying a heavy leather bound book. She nodded to James and set the book on the coffee table.

"Good morning, James," she said. 

"I have brought him up on the details," Dumbledore told her.

"I should contact Sirius," James said. Lily came down the stairs with a very tired Harry in her arms.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"We're going to use the Fidelius charm to hide us. I was going to get a hold of Sirius so he could be the Secret-Keeper."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I'm not sure that would be the best decision."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"Someone close to you is spying on you, Lily. I don't know that I would put this responsibility on any of your friends. I would be more than happy to be your Secret-Keeper. Voldemort could never get to me," he said. McGonagall cringed to hear him speak the Dark Lord's name. "Please play this safe."

James and Lily exchanged glances. Harry was beginning to wake up. He stood up on the couch and made to play with James like they usually did in the mornings since the Bureau went under. James gathered him up and sat him down in his lap.

"Sirius would rather die than give us up," he said. "I've known him since forever. I trust him." He turned to Lily. "What do you think?"

Lily was staring at Harry, her eyes were strangely fixated. The corners of her mouth sagged under the weight of her thoughts and concerns. A single tear dripped down her ashen face. "I'm not sure," she said.

"I know Sirius isn't the spy! You know he's not the spy. We've had him and Jade over here since we moved. No one else."

"And yet Voldemort is still gathering information on you," Dumbledore said. "I'm not saying it is Sirius but I wouldn't put it past anyone. Voldemort is very persuasive and dangerous. Sirius is a powerful wizard, yes, but that has yet to matter when it comes to resisting Voldemort."

James shook his head. "No. Sirius wouldn't ever work for that scum. He's not like that. I told you I trust him more than anyone. Except you, Lily. I want Sirius to be our Secret-Keeper. He's kept all my other secrets."

Lily sighed and leaned up against James, clutching his arm with her shaking hands. James put his free arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. "What do you think?" he asked her.

Lily swept a few strands of black hair out of Harry's eyes. "Sirius would never want Harry hurt or dead. He loves Harry. He loves us." She looked to James then Dumbledore. "I want Sirius, too."

Now it was Dumbledore who sighed. He got up from his chair and opened the book which lay on the table. "Summon him then," he whispered.  
  


Sirius was up, dressed, on his motorcycle, and in the Potter's driveway in a matter of minutes. He rushed into the house without remembering doing any of it. Lily pulled him in the house before he could knock on the door or let himself in.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Trouble," James said. "Voldemort's out for us." He informed Sirius of what Dumbledore had said. Sirius's face went from wonder to horror by the time James finished. He looked at Lily holding Harry and nearly lost control. 

"We want you to do it, Sirius," she said. "We trust you."

"I'll do it," he said. He nodded his head fervently at them. "What's next?"

What was next was extensive. Dumbledore instructed Lily exactly what she needed to do and Sirius would have to do it with her. They went to each room, where Lily twirled her wand muttering, "Fidelius Patronum," which caused each room to glow. Once each room had been treated, Dumbledore, McGonagall, James, Lily, Sirius, and Harry went outside. 

"Now," Dumbledore told Lily, "Sirius will have to hold your left hand as you perform the final charm on the outside of your house. James, you'll need to stand on her right side with Harry closest to her. It is imperative that all of you concentrate on this spell. I want James and Sirius to think about the incantation while Lily performs it. Is that all clear?"

"Yes," James and Sirius answered at once.

"All right, Lily," Dumbledore said. "Repeat it three times. Point your wand at your front door. You can do this."

Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt Sirius clasp onto her hand with both of his. Harry was trying to reach for her, she could feel it. She raised her wand so her arm was parallel to the ground. She opened her eyes so she could aim.

"Fidelius Patronum," she whispered once. "Fidelius Patronum. Fidelius Patronum!" she yelled. An enormous silvery white ball erupted from the tip of her wand. The blast sent her back a few inches. The sphere hit the front door and burst into a thousand wisps of silver, like tinsel, and wrapped around the house like a web. The reflection of the magic made the entire house look like it was being wired by powerful electrical currents. Then suddenly they were gone.

Everyone looked to Dumbledore, who turned to McGonagall. "Well, Minerva?" he asked.

"The house is gone," she said with a tone of relief. "It worked."

"But I can still see it," Sirius said. "What did you see?"

"You can see it because only you can reveal it, for you alone know where it is. The house is gone. The only way Minerva or I could see it, would be if you chose to tell us where it is," Dumbledore explained.

"But you do know where it is," Sirius said.

"Yes. But you must tell us the address so we can see it. Trust me, Sirius. The house is gone. The Potters are safe so long as you keep their location secret."

Sirius, still holding on to Lily's hand, turned to face the family which was now relying on him for their lives. "Go on in, then," he said to them. The four of them walked to the front door and entered. The rooms were no longer glowing with magic. Lily set Harry down so he could play. Sirius stayed by the door. "I'll have to go into hiding," he said.

James turned to him and nodded. "That might be best. Where will you go?"

"I'm not sure," he said quietly. "You probably shouldn't talk to anyone else. You won't kill each other, will you?"

Lily hitched up one corner of her mouth and shook her head. "No. Thank you. Thanks for everything, Sirius."

Sirius returned the smile. "Hey," he said, forcibly casual, "what are friends for?"

James and Lily still looked pale. Though they smiled at Sirius, James with his arm around Lily, they continued to shoot nervous glances at Harry. He alone seemed unconcerned; he was playing with blocks on the floor, humming.

"Thanks, Padfoot old friend," James said, putting out his hand. Sirius seized it, pulled James towards him, and embraced him. 

"I'd do anything for you guys," Sirius said. He grasped James's shoulders and smiled. "Anything."

"I know you would," James said. "I'm really glad," he continued, "that you're my friend."

Sirius laughed. "Aw. Let's not get too mushy, now. We'll sound like women again."

"Yeah," James said with a laugh. "Like the time we were trapped in the Apparation chamber three years ago. Those were the days..."

"So," Sirius said as he clapped his hands together and backed away from them, "I'm on my way out. You'll be all right now. I know you will. But I don't want to say goodbye."

Lily walked toward him, crying, and wrapped her arms around his middle. "You're very brave," she said. She got on her tip toes and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sorry about yesterday," he blurted. "I didn't really think about how you would react."

Lily smiled. "No, it's all right. I over reacted. The stress, you know..." She let go of him and backed away towards James. "See you later," she said.

Sirius nodded at the both of them, pushed down the nob on the door, opened it, and walked out. Dumbledore and McGonagall had both gone. Walking to his motorcycle felt not quite normal. His feet seemed to hit the pavement harder than before. The engine didn't sound as throaty or loud as it usually did. Across the street four children were playing freeze tag; their parents were watching them from the porch, enjoying their coffee.

He kicked up his kick stand and sped off, though his destination was questionable.  
  


James sat at his desk one morning. He didn't know what brought him here. He didn't have any work to do; he couldn't send out owls; he didn't have any bills to pay. He dropped his quill on his blank parchment and opened the drawer on his right. He had kept some of his correspondence in this drawer. He pulled out the stack of envelopes and filtered through them.

He paused when he came to a yellowish envelope. "James," was written in a very tidy handwriting upon it. James turned the envelope over, lift the flap, and pulled out the parchment.

It was the letter his father had written him. James had read it nearly five years ago just after he'd died. James unfolded the letter and read it. He had only read the letter that day and never again. After he finished it for the third time, he put it back in the envelope and into the drawer.

Then he bent down over his parchment, dipped his quill in the ink, and began writing. He wrote everything that he wanted to tell Harry now, but couldn't because Harry wouldn't understand seven eighths of it. He quill never stopped curving letters on the page. He grabbed another piece of parchment and kept on writing.

He wiped his eyes from time to time, laughed, but mostly hoped that this letter wouldn't need to be read at all. By the time he'd finished it, night had fallen. He folded the letter three times then put it in an envelope, which he addressed: Harry. Because he couldn't really leave the house to put the letter in a safe place, he attached it to Artemis, who was perched on his desk. "Take it to our Gringotts vault. The Goblins will understand." He attached the letter to her leg and she flew out of the house. James got up and walked down stairs.

"What were you doing up there?" Lily asked as she spread grape jam on some bread.

"Writing a letter to Harry," he said as if it was normal to write a letter like that.

"Oh," she said nonplused. "I wrote mine yesterday."

James picked up a piece of bread and started to make his own sandwich. "You wrote one, too?"

"Yeah, I was planning on doing it months ago, but I never wanted to bring myself to doing it. Writing those letters assume a lot of things."

"Yes," he said, "they sure do. Where is the little rascal anyway?"

"He's sleeping. It's eight o'clock, honey. It's bed time."

"Right," he said through a mouthful of bread and jelly. "I'm going to go see him." Lily didn't protest one bit as James went up the stairs and into Harry's room. James opened the door a few inches so he could see if Harry was sleeping. James heard singing. It made him smile. Harry was lying on his back, holding onto his stuffed snitch, and singing nonsense words to his owl mobile. James walked inside. "You're supposed to be asleep," he said as he leaned on Harry's crib.

"Dada," Harry said with a smile.

"Harry," James said back in the same tone. Harry rolled over on his front, pushed himself up, staggered a little, then walked to his father. He grabbed James's nose. "Dada," he said again.

"Harry," he said back.

"Dada," Harry said, this time loudly. 

"Harry," James answered.

Harry laughed a deep belly laugh, but it sounded very light.

"You're silly," James said, but he too was laughing. "Give me a kiss, Harry." Harry put his hands on the crib's railing, pulled himself closer to James, and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you," James said right before kissing Harry.

"Mama," he said.

"I'm not your mama. She's a beautiful woman and I'm just a handsome man," he muttered. He pat Harry's head, smoothing out his hair.

"Mama," he said again, this time pointing to the door. James turned around. Lily was leaning against the doorway, her arms crossed, her lips up, her eyes sparkling.

"How long have you been standing there?" James asked.

She pushed off the wall and started walking toward him. "I followed you up here. I only wanted to watch you with him," she said. "Hello my darling," she said to Harry.

"Mama," he said.

"Harry," Lily replied.

"Mama!" he repeated as he shook the crib while laughing.

"Harry!"

"Mama!" he said and giggled.

"He likes that game," James said. "But it is getting late, right mother dearest?" He ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her on the lips. "You think we should leave him to sleep?"

"Dada!" he said, hopping up and down now.

"He doesn't seem very tired," Lily said. She inched closer to James; her hands went up his back. "Dance with me." She twirled her finger and the radio on the window sill began to play. James held out one hand and rest the other on her waist. Lily's fingers intertwined with his. The music sounded like hard rock, but they swayed like it was very slow.

James tilt his head on hers and shut his eyes. He could feel Lily exhale on the skin of his neck. Her fingers tightened around his. "I love you," she whispered.

James pulled back his head to look at her. She had her eyes cast down so that her lids folded over them. James let go of her hand and raised her chin. Lily's green eyes were moist and puffy.

"I love you, too," he said. "Are you going to cry?" he asked. She shook her head just as a tear rolled down her red face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Her lip began to quiver. "I'm scared," she whimpered. "James, I'm so scared." She grabbed him around the middle and ducked her head under his chin, where she wept freely.

~~~...ashes...~~~

  
  


His apartment was clean. In over three years he had lived here the only time it had been clean was when someone else would clean it. But the laundry was put away, the counters were spotless, the floor had only one color; no stains; there was no dust on any of the furniture. Yet Sirius thought it was still dirty. He tried ignoring it by walking into his bedroom. He pulled a duffle bag from under his bed. He pointed his wand at his clothes; they flew out of his closet, folded in midair, then slid into the duffle bag. 

Then he took off his robes and changed into blue jeans, a green long sleeve shirt, and his leather jacket. He laced up his black boots, slung the duffle bag over his shoulder, and walked out of his apartment. 

His motorcycle was parked under a tree; no droppings spotted it's new paint job. He placed his bag on the back of the bike, sat down, and turned the key in the ignition. The problem was, and he knew it, he just didn't know where to go. He supposed he should stay in a Muggle residence, but he would be very suspicious. A tall man on a motorcycle pulled up to a house with only one bag and no job! They'd find him in a second. He certainly was not going to go anywhere near Godric's Hollow, out of fear of giving the Potters away. Staying with Jade would put her at risk; he couldn't live with that. Where was he to go? 

He kicked up the kick stand, pushed off the pavement, and zoomed off in a direction, hoping some higher power might lead him. As he drove past a large house on his right, Jade came into his mind again. He kept thinking about her. She would worry about him, he knew that. She would want to know where he was and if he was safe. She would want to know everything...

When he arrived at her apartment door, he hesitated. Should he tell her? Yes, you should, he thought. After all, she is your fiancé! Tell her you love her and you'll see her soon. She has the right to know. Besides, you don't know how long you'll be gone. Sirius knocked on her door. Sirius heard Jade's Sheltie barking and saw the shadows of her feet at the bottom of the door. Then he heard Jade shuffle out.

"Sirius, hi," she said, allowing him entrance. The dog greeted him as if they were long lost friends. "I haven't seen you in a while. I've tried owling you but you haven't answered. What's going on?"

"That's why I'm here," he said. He shut the door. "Jade, James and Lily are in hiding and I'm their Secret-Keeper. We haven't told a soul that anything has been performed, or that they are even hiding. They haven't talked to me in five days nor anyone else. And because I'm Keeping for them, it's imperative that I go into hiding right now. The Bureau can't help me protect my residence any more. If I stay with you I'll put you in danger and I can't do that. So you see my dilemma," he said quickly.

Jade's face was pale. Sirius kept waiting for her to say something, anything, but she didn't. She paced the room biting her thumbnail, continually looking back at him but not saying anything.

"I wanted to say goodbye," Sirius finally said. "I don't know how long I'll be gone. But I will come back. I want you to know that you are the best then that ever happened to me. It's because of you that I grew up a little. Not much," he said with a wave, "but enough. I love you and I want to marry you. Five years ago I never thought I would hear myself say that. You know I love you, don't you?"

Jade nodded.

"I'm going to miss you," he said. He walked to her and picked up her hands. "Tell me you love me," he said, shaking her hands. "Tell me. Tell me before I go away."

Jade bit her lip and Sirius saw her eyes turn shiny. "I feel," she said, her voice shaking, "like I'm not going to see you again."

Sirius shook his head and grabbed her shoulders. "No, no, no. You will see me again, I promise. I'm just going away for a little while. Stay here and plan our wedding! It's not like you were going to involve me in the plans anyway. Planning a wedding is a woman's thing. Do it, Jade."

But she wasn't convinced and neither was he. "You know why I have to go," he said. Jade nodded. "And you can't stop me from going." She shook her head. "Please believe me when I say I'll come back."

Now no longer trying to hold back her tears, Jade said, "I believe you. I love you, Sirius, more than I love anyone. And I will marry you. Lily will be my maid of honor, James will be your best man. We'll go to Sydney for our honeymoon but never see it because we'll be indoors the entire time."

Sirius smiled. "That's right. We will, Jade. And will have babies in a few years and send them to school with Harry and his brothers and sisters. We will," he said firmly. "We will have that life. We just have to postpone it for a little while. Okay?"

"Okay," she said. She threw her arms around him and cried into his shoulder. "I love you," she whispered in his ear. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too." He set her down, kissed her with all his love, and broke away. "I love you, Jade," he said just as he shut the door. He ran down the hall, pounded down the stairs, and sped off on his motorcycle so fast he didn't realize he had done any of it.

He pulled into a hotel parking lot, got a room with the Muggle money he carried out of habit from working with the Bureau, and bought a sandwich that he didn't touch. 

There was a television in this room. He had seen them before but never really watched one. He grabbed the remote on this bedside table and pressed the power button. He flicked to different channels with the 'channel' button, but didn't see anything good. There was a home shopping channel, a cooking show, a fishing show, an interior decorating show, and the news. The newscasters were talking about the dangers of peanuts based on a new study.

"Don't know why Muggles boast about the television," Sirius said as he turned it off, "there's nothing on." Sirius threw the remote across the room and stared at the ceiling. He didn't really know when he drifted to sleep, or that he had slept at all. He was awake the next morning without even remembering that he'd closed his eyes the night before. He turned on the radio.

"Good morning London," a disk jockey said in an overly bright way. "Watch out for ghouls and goblins on your way to work, as today is Halloween. If you haven't bought your kid his costume yet, check out Freddie's Costumes on E street. Mention this radio station and get a thirty percent discount. And now a look at the traffic.." Sirius turned it off. He still had to figure out where to go; this room certainly wouldn't do.

"I should leave the country," he said. But leaving the country would require Apparation and James said they could trace people Apparating. He could drive to another country, but he would still be in Europe. His best bet was across the Atlantic. 

Stopped at a red light on his Harley, Sirius thought of Daytona Florida, where his model of motorcycle had debuted. It was warm there and far away. He remembered that the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Celeste Gellar, had lived in Florida. He took a deep breath and made his decision. He drove through the intersection and pulled off into a square where a travel agency was located. But having finally come to a decision which he was happy with, he decided he'd have some breakfast first.

The bakery smelled of rising bread, fresh pastries, and high in saturated fats, which lured him inside. Little round tables lined the walls. The display near the front counter showed muffins, cinnamon rolls, doughnuts, croissants, and many other delicious selections.

"No, you don't understand, ma'am," he heard a familiar voice say. "I wanted grape filling, not strawberry. I'm allergic to strawberry. If I eat strawberry I'll break out into hives and itch all day long. I can't itch all day long. I have to go to work, not itching."

"Look," the attendant said, "I have here that you wanted a strawberry filled doughnut. I'm sure you said strawberry because I'm not deaf. Now if you want the grape you'll have to pay for it."

"But," he said, "but I ordered grape. Can't you get me grape? I haven't touched this." He offered it up to her but she pushed it away. Sirius grinned and stole the doughnut right from his hands. He turned around saying, "Hey!-- Sirius?"

"Peter! How have you been, buddy?" he asked. "I haven't seen you in months. You're really important here in London, then?"

Peter nodded and smiled so his light blue eyes crinkled up. "Yes," he said.

"Hey," the attendant said, "are you going to order or what?"

Sirius pulled out a pound and threw it at her. "Grape filled this time. Make it snappy. I'll eat the strawberry. Come on let's talk." He led Peter over to a table by a window. "So where have you been all this time?"

"Well, you remember that I have a simple processing job at the Ministry, right? It's not an important job, you understand, but it's sort of important because everything has to be done."

"The point, Pete," Sirius said.

"Anyways, I have a filing sort of job, because I was never as smart as you or the others. But it's still an important job. Lately things have been kinda weird," Peter said. He scratched his blonde head. "You-know-who has been very active lately which means lots of paperwork. I've been really busy. Besides, you guys are more up north and I don't really like to travel. Makes me nervous," he said. He started folding his napkin like an envelope. Someone brought him his doughnut. "Oh no," he said as he looked at it.

"What's the problem now?" Sirius asked. He finished his in two bites.

"There's a tiny piece of strawberry on it," he whined. He picked it off with his fingers then wiped them on his napkin. "I'm gonna break out in hives, I just know it!"

"So it's busy at the Ministry, is it?" Sirius asked. "I suppose it is with all that's been happening. It's still hard for me to believe that it's all real, you know?"

"Yeah," he responded. "Scary actually. What are you doing here anyway? Oh, I heard about the Bureau. Someone in my office was talking about it. That's horrible."

"I know," Sirius said. "I'm unemployed... sort of. I was thinking about going to America today. I've never been there, you know. They say it's nice."

"Professor Gellar was from America. Remember how you drooled over her when she first came in!" he said with a giggle. "You were so funny."

"I was an idiot. You know, you really haven't changed much, but there is something different about you..." Sirius said. Peter dropped his smile and looked down at himself.

"I did lose ten pounds. Could that be it?"

"That's it," Sirius said. "You look great, Peter, really great. Have you found any lady friends?"

Peter shifted in his chair. "There is this one girl. She picks up the owl post from the slip files and takes them to the owls in the owlry. I haven't really talked to her though. I can't work up the nerve. So what about you and Jade...? Are you guys still going together?"

"Yeah. We're engaged, actually."

"Really?" he asked excitedly. "You told James already, did you? And Remus, too?"

"James knows," he said slowly... James and Lily... 

"Remus doesn't?" Peter continued. "Are you fighting again?"

"Maybe," Sirius said, but distantly. "James is going to be my best man, of course. We've talked about it a little. Remus has been absent lately, with a girl. She's a bit strange. You remember meeting her, right?"

Peter nodded. "How come James hasn't replied to any of my letters? I wrote him a week ago and he still hasn't responded. He's not mad at me, is he?"

Sirius considered telling him the truth. "He's not mad. He's.... well.... James is a powerful wizard, you know. He has been, not working because we're unemployed, but he's been busy with Harry. Harry walks and talks now, did you know?"

"James said so in his letters. I wish I could have seen it... He spends a lot of time with Harry?"

"Yeah," Sirius said. "They're a beautiful family. A beautiful family..." he said. He looked at Peter for a while without saying anything. Peter picked at his doughnut until there was no more, then glanced at his watch. "You have to be somewhere?" he asked.

"In ten minutes. It was really nice seeing you, Sirius." He started to get up; Sirius pulled him back down. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking startled.

"Hold on a second," Sirius said. Peter hadn't been around for months... they'd corresponded through letters... Sirius and James saw each other nearly every day, but Peter hadn't even seen Harry talk. Everyone knew James and Sirius were inseparable, but Peter lived in London, away from them. Peter had a meaningless job, no attachments to girlfriends whose fathers were assassinated by the Director of Counterintelligence's men. Peter was just a wizard and not even very good at that... Sirius was a give away, but Peter...

"Have you told anyone about us being Animagi?" Sirius asked, now focused on Peter's reaction.

"No," he said as he stared Sirius straight in the eye. "Have you?"

Sirius shook his head. "No. What time is your lunch, Pete?" 

"Twelve. Why?"

Sirius grinned. "I have a brilliant idea."  
  


Sirius let himself into number six, Calvary drive at ten that morning. James, Lily and Harry were all sitting on the floor playing with blocks. They looked surprised to see him.

"Is something wrong?" James asked. 

"No, everything is fine. I have a great idea, okay? I ran into Peter today in London. I was thinking about going to Florida to hide, but then I found Peter."

Lily and James stared. "And...?" Lily said.

"Peter," Sirius said. "You should use Peter instead of me. Think about it, okay? Everyone knows I'm close to you. I was best man at your wedding and you named me godfather. Only an idiot wouldn't guess that I'm your Secret-Keeper."

"But you wouldn't tell anyone, so why should we switch?" James asked. Lily looked distressed. "What would be the point?"

"It's the perfect bluff, James. You're right, I would never tell a soul where you live. Never. But they could capture me. There is still Vertiaserum and the Imperius curse out there. I can't fight either one. If those Death Eaters know you and I are close, James, they'll know I'm the one to find. I would never in a thousand years give you away, but if I can't control myself then what can I do?"

"But you're going into hiding," Lily said. "You'll be safe in hiding."

"Lily don't you understand? They'll be able to find me eventually because they'll be looking. Who knows how much information they gained when they broke into the IWBI. What if they found out a way to trace me? It doesn't matter how hard I try to hide if they know I'm the one to look for. But if it's Peter who's Secret-Keeper, and they still chase me, then you're in the clear. No one will go for Peter. He's hardly been around. And it shouldn't put any pressure on him because it will still be on me. So if they did capture me and put me under the Imperius curse or Veritaserum, I can't give you away!"

James and Lily stared at each other. 

"But so far," Lily said, "everything has been fine. You're safe, we're safe. Why change if it's working fine?"

"Because they'll eventually find me. Voldemort has spies everywhere. I won't be able to hide for long. Just think about it, Lily. Who would suspect Peter? He's a less than ordinary wizard with no sign of great powers. Why would you use someone like that? I, however, am not weak and I'm your best friend. Don't you see?"

"Peter's an Animagi just like you," Lily said. "So he is a good wizard to a degree."

Sirius shook his head. "Peter hasn't told a soul about that. No one knows he's an Animagi. Him and I are probably the only ones who haven't blabbed about that. You made James tell you," he said. "He can keep a good secret."

"But where has Peter been all this time? I hardly see him anymore," Lily continued.

"He's been working his butt off in London. I only ran into him today. He's been busy at the Ministry because of the busy times. And I don't think he's one for kids, no offense, Harry," he added. Harry smiled and walked to Lily. "So, what do you think?" 

Lily kissed Harry while staring at James. "What do you think, James?" Lily asked him. 

James starting thinking about everything Sirius had said. It all made perfect sense. Sirius was the obvious choice, Peter was not. James had always been very close to Sirius, but Peter was like the odd man out. Sirius worked with James, he was at the house a lot; the Death Eaters would know James and Sirius had destroyed the IWBI by now. 

SJames sighed."I trust Sirius," he told her. "And I understand where he's coming from. It makes sense. Do you want to switch?" he asked her.

Lily closed her eyes and sighed. "I trust Sirius, too, but I'm not sure about all this."

"I really wish this wasn't happening to us," James mumbled. "I wish that scum had never been born." 

"You think they might use Veritaserum, or the curse?" Lily asked. Her eyebrows were scrunched close together showing her concern.

"Yes," James said, "I do. Sirius is right; he is the obvious choice. Peter would be the perfect bluff. But I'll only give the okay if you're comfortable with it."

Lily smoothed out Harry's black hair and kissed his cheeks. Bitting her lip, she nodded to Sirius. 

"All right," he said. "I'll bring him by around twelve o'clock."  
  


Peter looked slightly green and shaken when he arrived. He had to crouch down with his head between his knees for a few minutes after he got off Sirius's motorcycle. Once he had recuperated, he said his hellos. The only one not happy to see him was Harry, who frowned and hid behind Lily.

"He doesn't really like strangers," James said. "Try not to take it personally."

"He looks just like you," Peter said. "Has he shown any signs of magic yet?"

James laughed. "Unfortunately. He can get his hands on most anything just by wanting it. It's the same thing Lily can do. So, should we get started?"

Lily and Peter went around to each room to perform the spell, just as she had done with Sirius. The process was a lot shorter this time around, as Lily knew what to do. In ten minutes, the final touch had been put on the house, this time on the side door; to keep to the change. Lily requested that Peter tell Sirius the address so he could see it, which Peter did. Sirius watched their house grow between number five and seven with astonishment.

"I have to get back to work," Peter said timidly as he gazed at his watch.

"Do you want me to take you?" Sirius asked.

Peter waved him off. "I am not getting on the back of that thing again in my life," he said. "I'll take the Knight Bus instead, thank you."

"Thanks for doing this, Peter," Lily said. She kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks so much."

"Yeah," James said with a grin. "We appreciate it, Wormtail old friend. Keep yourself safe, you hear me?"

Peter smiled. "Yeah," he said, "I will. Sirius has booked me a room at a hotel, to keep me safe. So I'll see you later?" he said.

James nodded and shook his hand. "Bye, Pete. Keep us safe, all right?"

"'Course I will. Bye Lily, Sirius, James... Harry. You should go inside before the bus comes, don't you think?"

"Yes," Lily said. She herded the rest of them up to the house and through the door. They watched Peter summon the Knight Bus, load on, then leave. Lily set Harry down then ran upstairs without a word to anyone. Harry tugged on James's sleeve.

"Is she all right?" Sirius asked. James shook his head and picked up Harry.

"No. She's terrified. She has been since this whole ordeal. She doesn't even want to talk about it. I'll be glad when all of this is over."

Sirius watched James. He wasn't smiling anymore like he was outside. He was eying Harry with great care, fiddling with his clothes and hands. Harry smiled at James, placed his small hands around his father's neck, pulled forward, and kissed his cheek. James took a deep breath and kissed Harry back. He made a motion like he was rubbing his eyes, but when he pulled back his fingers, Sirius saw moisture.

"You know," James began in a choked sort of way, "I always thought Lily would be the top."

Sirius braced himself on the wall. "What's wrong?" he asked, for James did not look well. He suddenly appeared weaker; thinner, like a giant anvil had rested on his shoulders. He faced Sirius.

"I have been experiencing some very strange dreams. I've seen my father as a skeleton. Then I'm the skeleton. Just the other night I dreamt I was walking behind Harry, only he didn't know I was there; he couldn't see me when I talked to him... I have a feeling that something might just happen, like it's supposed to happen. I feel like there is nothing I can do to stop it because it's meant to be... Sirius," he said now looking intently into his eyes, "you have to promise me something, okay? You have to promise."

Sirius could hear himself breathing. "Okay," Sirius said. "What is it?"

"You have to promise me that if something happens, if something happens to me-- "

Sirius shook his head violently. "Nothing is going to happen to you," Sirius said firmly. "You'll be fine. It'll be over soon, I know that!"

"-- if I die-- "

"Stop talking like that!" Sirius demanded. "Stop it or I'll leave right now, do you hear me? I will not listen to this nonsense, James. You're not going to die, okay? You promised me long ago that we'd be friends forever, don't you remember when we were just kids? You said forever and I took that to heart. Don't you dare say it's not going to happen!"

"Hear me out, will you?" James said. "You think I want to go now? I'm thinking about them, Sirius. If, and I say if, something happens and I am killed-- listen to me-- I want you to make sure they are happy and safe, okay? You have to promise me that Lily and Harry will be happy and safe. You do whatever necessary to make sure that happens, okay? Take care of my family for me. Take my place!"

Sirius was getting angry now. Why was James saying all of this? Why was he talking nonsense. They were always okay, they were always safe, they always made it out of a jam. They were smooth in anything. They would make it out of this just like everything else.

"You are not going to die," Sirius said, pounding his fist into the palm of his hand. "I won't let that happen. You can't die, James, you can't."

"Sirius promise me," James said, now sounding desperate. "You have to promise you'll take care of them. Promise me that you'll take my place if I'm gone. Promise me that, Sirius. Promise me!"

"If I did it wouldn't mean anything because I'll never have to!"

"Do it," James urged. "Do it. Say you'll take my place. Say it. Tell me they'll be okay if I'm gone. You have to understand how important this is to me. We're talking about my family, Sirius. They are my life. Don't you get that? Don't you understand how important they are to me? Damn, Sirius! I used to think I couldn't love anyone as much as I loved Lily. But I was wrong, don't you see that? Promise me you'll take care of my family. Please, Sirius," he said, his eyes watery, "I'm begging you. I love them so much, you can't possibly know how much. I love them so much... Please tell me you'll take care of them. Tell me you'll take care of the people I love more than anything, okay? Sirius, please. You're the only one I trust with them, please say yes. Please..." he pleaded. His eyes were red and on the verge of tears. He sniffled loudly as he awaited Sirius's answer.

Fighting back tears of his own, hands on his hips, Sirius said just above a whisper, "I promise. I'll take care of them; I'll take your place."

James gave a great sigh of relief and nodded. He took in deep breaths of air and began walking around the room, Harry still in his arms. Sirius turned away from him when he heard Lily coming back down the stairs with a stone face.

"Harry needs to go down for his nap," she said mechanically. She went to the fridge and pulled out a Tommy tipper cup filled with apple juice. She walked over to James and took Harry back upstairs.

"So I guess I should get going," Sirius said. 

"Wait until Lily comes back down?" he said.

"Sure," Sirius said. He sat down on the couch and folded his hands on his knees. He heard feet on the stairs. Lily came into the room. "I'm leaving now," Sirius said. He stood up and looked down into her lovely eyes. "I'll see you later," he forced himself to smile. "Everything is going to be fine. We were all this worried when I was the Keeper, remember? In a few days we will all be calm and cool like usual. Yes?"

Lily nodded. "Yes," she said. James nodded. "Thanks, Sirius. We'll see you later," she said. She hugged him tightly and kissed him once on each cheek. "Come by tomorrow."

"I will," he told her. He walked toward the door; James was in his way. "I promise," he said.

"Thank you," James replied. He stared into Sirius's brown eyes. "Maybe we should to that hugging thing again," he said.

Sirius grinned. "But only a short one. Real men don't hug twice in one week."

James laughed and pulled Sirius in for a tight, but short, embrace. "It's our secret," he said once he had let go. "We'll see you later, Sirius." He clapped Sirius on the shoulder and opened the door.

"That's right you will," Sirius said as he left the house. He saw James wave to him as he backed down the steps. The door didn't close until Sirius was on his motorcycle. The moment he started it up, he looked back. The house had shrunk. He couldn't see them anymore. Taking a deep breath, he drove off.

~~~...We all fall down~~~

  
  


James watched Sirius disappear around the bend. He let the curtain fall and turned around to see Lily. She was standing quite still, her face was stiff and stern. James walked over to her, his feet making little noise on the carpet. He stopped when he could hear Lily breathing. James shut his eyes, kissed her forehead, and placed his hands gently around her face. 

"Let us pretend," he said breathlessly, "that we are not afraid; that there is no danger outside; that we are simple people who are uninvolved in the world."

He wiped a few tears from Lily's eyes with his thumbs. "Play with me," he urged her, smiling placidly. "Nothing can get us, because no one is trying."

Lily put her hands on his. "All right," she simpered, tears still rolling and being caught by him. "It sounds like a great game."

He didn't respond. He kissed her so passionately he was afraid he might break her. But she came back with the same voracity; she could feel his body heat against hers, his heart beating in tune with her own. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. He held onto her tight. She sent her head back when she felt his lips on her neck, his hands on her back. Not knowing where he was taking them, James began walking and bumped into the sofa. Lily laughed, took off his glasses, moved in such a way that James lost balance and fell back onto the sofa, hitting his head on the arm of it.

"Are you okay?" she asked, though she was giggling.

"Could be," he replied. "Doesn't matter though, does it?"

"Nope," she said. "No more talking."

"Fine by me," he said quickly. They returned to their game. It didn't take long before the floor was littered with clothes...  
  


Sirius drove back to London and stopped by the travel agency like he had planned to do this morning. He found out that the next flight to Florida was tomorrow morning.

"But this is London," he said, "that is America. Shouldn't there be more flights?" he asked.

The lady at the desk shook her head. "You must not understand airlines very well, sir. It's best to book flights in advance. Many of them are booked. Heathrow has a flight to Miami International tomorrow morning. That's the soonest we can get you there. If you would like to fly into LAX or La Guardia, it'll be the same time. Tomorrow morning is the soonest flight to the States. Period."

"Fine, then. Book me for a flight to Miami."

"First class or coach?" she asked.

Sirius squinted at her. "Coach? I thought it was on a plane. You fly coaches?"

The lady clicked her teeth. "Stop playing dumb, sir. First class or coach?"

Still confused, Sirius asked another question. "Which costs more?"

"First class," she said.

"I'll take coach," he said, not really knowing what it was. He paid entirely in cash, took the ticket, and went back to his hotel room where he had stayed the night before. This time he ate a rotisserie chicken and downed a liter of water. Nothing was on the television, surprise, so he read from the books in the hotel room. He nodded off into sleep as he was halfway through The Awakening.  
  


"That was a great game," Lily said. She pulled herself up a little and kissed him. He rest his head in the crook of her neck and shut his eyes. She could still feel his heart pounding against her chest. "What time is it?" she asked.

"I can't see the time," he said. "Where did you put my glasses?"

"Um," she said. She tried looking over the sofa to see them. She held her hand up and they flew into her palm. "Here you go." She put them on for him. 

"It's one forty-five. He's probably awake and hungry, just like me. Should I go get him?" he asked. He sat up, took his t-shirt from the floor, and pulled it over his head.

"Sure," she said. He finished getting dressed then ran up the stairs. Harry was wide awake and walking in his crib. James checked and changed his diaper then carried him down stairs where Lily was preparing lunch. They ate in sparse silence, each thinking of what lay ahead. Harry wasn't really concerned with events, though. He was having much more fun playing with the marmalade and toast.

When evening came, they heard children outside playing. Lily wanted to open the door and offer them sweets for Halloween, but she knew she couldn't. They sounded like they were having a great time, though. All the curtains were down, so they couldn't see the children. Lily felt safer if she couldn't watch what was going on outside.

The voices died down as the time ticked by. By eleven o'clock there were no children to be heard. James, Lily, and Harry all stayed up late as it was a holiday of sorts. Lily ignited a small fire and they roasted some marshmallows, which Harry enjoyed a little too much. His fingers were very sticky and his lips were covered with melted mallow. 

Lily cleaned him up and sent him back into the living room to sit with James. She started to walk out herself, but suddenly stopped. Her heart began to hammer. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Her hands began to shake.

James looked up at her. "Lily?" he said. He noticed that his voice didn't sound like it should. "Lily, what's wrong?"

But then he heard it. There was a small clanking outside the house. Someone had come into the yard through the gate. James stood up and picked up Harry. He backed up to be with Lily who grabbed him around the waist.

"Someone's here," he whispered to her. "I hope it's Sirius playing a joke on us."

"It's not," Lily said. They waited in silence to hear more... 

There was a very muffled tapping coming from the entry way wall, like the presence was still outside-- it stopped. James didn't remember when he stopped breathing. His wand was on the coffee table. Lily grabbed his hand and kept watching the room. James started breathing again when no more noise came. "Maybe it was just a cat," he breathed. But Lily didn't look away or even blink.

BANG!

The floor shook a little. James ran to the coffee table and grabbed his wand. Someone had broken through the door and he had a horrible feeling he knew exactly who it was. 

"James!" Lily cried, reaching out for him.

James turned around and ran back to her. He looked shaken but determined. His lip was quivering but he looked into her eyes and shouted, "Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off-- "

James turned on his heal and ran from the room, stumbling over one of Harry's toys. Then the door to the living room burst open and a cackle of high pitched laughter filled the air. James turned around to make sure Lily was leaving. James saw her run up the stairs, Harry looking at him before disappearing. James backed up a little, wand clasped firmly in his right hand.

A tall hooded figure stood in the room with him, dust clouds behind him. The dim light wasn't enough to illuminate inside his hood. James couldn't see his face. And as if he could read minds, he pulled his hood off very slowly to reveal a skeletal face with blood red eyes, a snake like nose, sunken cheeks, and a cruel smile pulled over shiny white teeth.

"James Potter," he said in a cold voice. "How nice to meet your acquaintance."

James's throat was tight. He hoped Lily and Harry had gotten out through the window upstairs. "I'm afraid there is no pleasure from where I stand," James said. He could feel his eyes burning. The saliva in his mouth was drying up.

Voldemort laughed again. "Like father like son, I see. Morbid jokes is all you have to offer? That is just as well. You stand between a goal of mine. Nothing stands in Voldemort's way."

James stood taller. "I won't let you hurt them," he said.

"How noble of you. Daddy comes to save the day. It's a funny thing with the Fidelius charm... It protects so well that it is impossible to break out. The only way out is through the side door, the door the spell is performed on. But I have blocked the way out, I'm afraid. Your little wife and child cannot escape. So you see, James, they will die. Not even the best wizards can Disapparate out of this house. But don't you worry," he said as if trying to be kind. "I'll make sure you won't miss any special moments; your son will die."

James pulled his wand up. He started to grind his teeth as he bowed. Voldemort smirked and bowed as well, then raised his wand.  
  


Lily kept kicking at the windows to shatter the glass but they didn't even vibrate. "NOOOOO!!!" she screamed. She closed her bedroom door, set Harry down and punched the window, threw herself against it, and tried shattering it by using her powers. It wouldn't crack.  
  


"Stupefy!" James yelled, pointing his wand at Voldemort, but he evaded it. James wiped sweat off his face and ducked a jet of light from Voldemort.

"You'll never beat me," Voldemort said. James kept sidestepping; remaining a moving target. "You're only delaying the inevitable."

"Expelliarmus!" James yelled, but Voldemort evaded that as well. He laughed coldly at James and continued to move forward. "Leave them alone you sick son of a bitch," he said. "Leave them alone, they can't hurt you! You think your so tough? You want to kill a mother with her baby! How powerful you must be. A defenseless woman and a baby. What a powerful wizard you are," James said.

Voldemort kept on smiling, but James kept trying. Voldemort advanced but James stood his ground. He tried to remember what Fletcher had taught him months ago... He had one chance; it might work. James wound his wand arm around and brought it down quickly to point at Voldemort's chest, channeling all of his hate at him through his wand. "AVADA KE--"

"Crucio! Voldemort said. James fell backwards and arched his back. He could hear himself screaming; the pain was so intense, like he was being electrocuted. He screamed louder; he could hear Voldemort laughing.

He raised his wand; James relaxed. Voldemort laughed softly. "Trying to kill me, Potter? You'll pay for that."

James pushed himself off the floor a little so he could see those red eyes. He heard Voldemort say it again. He felt like his entire body was on fire and at the same time being stabbed all over. It stopped suddenly.

"Alas, James," he said with a fake sigh. "I am growing tired of our duel. I do hate ripping apart families, but if you believe in the afterlife, then you won't be separated long."

James held his wand and positioned himself for a final strike. As soon as he heard Voldemort utter the first two letters, he leapt up, thrust his wand at Voldemort and cried his spell once more. He saw the green light shoot out of his wand and sail just over Voldemort's head.

But he had missed. He had lost. Slowly, James looked down at his chest. He saw the green light coming toward him, but it was spliced by pictures which flashed across his mind and covered his eyes. He saw his mother and father smiling at him as he got off the train after his first year-- Lily was grinning at him before she gave him his first kiss-- he was holding the Quidditch cup-- Lily was walking toward him, wearing her wedding gown-- the nurse handed him Harry-- Harry was saying "Dada" and smiling-- he was walking towards James with outstretched arms and a huge grin... James smiled just before he saw the light hit his chest. The images moved faster now, but the air outside was cold.... He saw Sirius with Jade-- Harry was running to see him-- Lily was laughing with him-- Harry gave him a kiss and said "I love you."

James flew back through the air and landed with an empty thud on the ground. His wand clattered to the floor a second later. His eyes stared skyward but they did not see. They did not see Voldemort laugh mirthlessly and walk over him and head up the stairs.

He walked on as if he hadn't been stopped at all. He took the first step, then the second, the third, the fourth... 

Lily burst out of her bedroom door with Harry tucked safely in her arms. She saw Voldemort and began crying, but kept on running. She opened Harry's bedroom door, slammed it close behind her, and braced it shut with a chair. If only I had her wand, she thought... She picked up Harry again and kicked at his windows, but the same was here as in her room; they wouldn't budge. 

Harry began to cry and Lily joined him. If Voldemort was walking up the stairs then James was... "No," she cried, her voice shaking. "Please, God, no," she sobbed. Great tears rolled down her face as she kicked at the window. She heard the door nob behind her turn.

"Shhhh," she said to Harry. "It's okay," she whimpered in his ear, "I'll take care of you, Harry. I'll always be with you. I will always be with you. I love you so much, Harry. Mama loves you so much." She crossed her arms as she held him and closed her eyes. "I love you," she repeated. "I love you. I love you."

The door blast open and Harry cried louder. Lily kissed him and put him on the ground. "Stay here," she said to him. Harry didn't move. Lily stood up and faced Voldemort.

Through her blurry eyes she saw Voldemort smile at her.

"Stand aside, Lily and I will spare your life," he said, his wand pointed directly at her.

"No way!" she yelled, her fists clenched.

"You want to join your dearly beloved in death?" he asked. Lily's lips quivered and her entire body seemed to follow along.

"I won't let you kill my baby," she cried. "I won't let you kill my baby!"

Now Voldemort began to laugh. "Oh, come now," he said in mock sympathy. "We all suffer losses. We all get over them eventually. Time heals everything, Lily. Now be a good girl and stand aside."

Lily put her hands to her face and cried harder.

"Not Harry," she choked. "Not Harry, please not Harry."

Voldemort raised his wand and shifted it to the side, showing her the motion he wanted her to make. "Stand aside, you silly girl.... stand aside, now..." he was almost laughing. He thought this was funny. 

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead," she continued. She put her hands together and bowed down to him, her hands still shaking madly. "Not Harry! Please... have mercy... have mercy."

"I'm growing tired of this, Lily. Do what I say and stand aside!"

"NO! Not Harry! Not Harry! Please-- I'll do anything--"

Voldemort dropped his smile and replaced it with a tired frown. "Stand aside. Stand aside, girl! Get out of the way!"

"I'll do anything if you let him live, please! He's just a baby, he can't hurt you. Please, no," she sobbed. Her face was now full of painful tears. Voldemort didn't care.

"Stand aside," he said firmly. "Stand aside, now!"

And Lily, who could feel Harry touching her leg with his small, soft hand, shook her head violently, her face drenched in misery and sadness.

"As you wish," Voldemort said. He wound up his wand arm and thrust it towards her. She kept her eyes open the entire time and stared into his eyes. The blinding green light erupted from his wand and hit her squarely in the chest. She screamed shrilly in shock; a reel of images flashed before her eyes. Harry was purple and wet in her arms, the nurse said he was a healthy boy-- James was rocking Harry to sleep-- Harry was crying but stopped when James blew in his face-- Harry was laughing as James kissed him over and over-- Harry was crawling to her-- he was walking toward her-- James was spinning Harry in the air-- James told her he loved her-- Harry was on James's back and ruffling his hair-- "Mama," he said, jumping with happiness in his crib.

Lily hit the floor, her brilliant green eyes were now dull with death. Voldemort laughed cruelly as he stepped over her and made his way for Harry.

"Mama," Harry said. He rubbed his eyes and crawled toward her. He lay his head on her chest and hugged her. "Mama," he said again.

"She's dead, Harry. See what a silly thing love is?"

Harry shook Lily's arm but she didn't even look at him. He crawled off of her but sat next to her head and kissed her. "Mama," he said again, this time in anger. She wasn't paying attention to him.

Harry looked up at Voldemort and frowned at him. Voldemort lowered his wand so that it pointed directly at Harry's head.

"And they say you can defeat me," he whispered. And with a grin of long lost pleasure, Voldemort uttered, "Avada Kedavra!" The green light was so bright that Harry shut his eyes. The powerful jet of light hit Harry on the forehead and sent him back a little from the pressure. Harry opened his mouth to cry for his mother to help him, but sound wouldn't come out. He felt a searing pain and a warm wetness.

Voldemort's eyes widened as he lowed his wand and the live Harry Potter sat before him.

A gleaming white sphere, no bigger than a grapefruit, spun in front of Harry's closed eyes. But as Voldemort watched, the sphere grew larger and spun faster.

Harry opened his eyes. 

The white sphere rushed toward Voldemort with the power of lightning. It caught him in the chest and drove him out of the room, down the stairs and out of the house, ripping the walls apart, exploding the house's foundation beams, shattering all the windows, and tearing a screaming Voldemort from his body. The entire house shook before giving a mighty lurch. With an ear splitting BOOM the outside walls flew apart, waking up even the most tired neighbors.  
  


Sirius frowned in his sleep. There was an eerily uncomfortable pain in his stomach. He shifted a little and opened his eyes so they were slits.

Someone was standing in his room. Sirius sat up a little and opened his eyes, waiting for them to focus. It was James. But his head was bent low, his black hair was swept into his bloodshot eyes... he was weeping silently. Then he raised his hands and looked down on them, his tears falling to the floor. His hands were covered in blood... but it was his blood. Blood was oozing out of his stomach and dripping onto the floor.

Sirius sat up completely and made to stand up and go after James-- to help James. But then he looked down at his right hand. There, covered in blood, was a knife. Sirius started to hyperventilate. He looked up at James, whose skin was now turning white, then back at the knife. It wriggled inside his hand, it felt alive. The tip of the blade became sharp teeth, then the head of a rat.

"Sirius," James whispered, clutching his stomach and falling to the ground.

"NOOOOOO!" Sirius yelled as he opened his eyes and fell out of bed. "James!" But James was not here. It had been a nightmare... it was only a dream. But the feeling in his stomach was still there. He got up from the floor, ran out of his room, and drove to Peter's hiding place. He knocked on the door.

"Peter," he said, trying to remain calm. "Peter, open up, it's me." He pressed his ear to the door; there was no sound. He took out his wand, pointed it at the nob and said, "Alohomora!" and the door opened. Sirius walked in and looked around. The bed's sheets were clean and unused. Peter's bag was on the floor by the bed. A half eaten sandwich was on the table. Peter was not here, but everything else was. "Peter!" Sirius called. "This isn't funny!"

James and Lily, his inside voice said. His stomach lurched. Sirius turned on his heal and ran down to his motorcycle. He revved the engine and kicked in the flying spell and soared into the sky. "Faster," he commanded it, "faster!" The speedometer on his bike broke as he flew to Godric's Hollow.

He pointed it toward the ground as he got closer. He could smell something weird up ahead. He touched down on the street but didn't slow down. Their house was just around the bend, he told himself. He leaned to the left and caused the motorcycle to turn. 

He pulled on his break; his bike fish-tailed and didn't even come to a stop before Sirius got off of it.

In between houses five and seven was a enormous pile or debris. Only parts of the house stood, but the rest looked like bits of wood and stone. Not even the brick fireplace or chimney were still erect.

Sirius put his hand over his mouth and walked toward it. Dust clouds were still rising from it. He felt like he wasn't even there-- like this was some kind of dream. He had been here today. It was a complete house with a kitchen. A family lived inside of this house; his family lived here. Sirius walked towards the front door, which was no longer there.

"Sirius!" a familiar voice called. Sirius whirled around to see Hagrid coming from the other side of the house's remains. Sirius hadn't seen Hagrid in so long... he didn't look good. He was frowning and his eyes were bloodshot and puffy. 

"Hagrid?" Sirius said. He jogged over to him. "Why are you here?" he asked. He heard his voice start to crack. "What's happened? Where are they? Did they go to the hospital? Are they hurt?" he asked.

A tear trickled down Hagrid's face and disappeared in the mass of beard. "Oh, Sirius," he said painfully, resting his plate sized hand on Sirius's shoulders. "Lily and James are dead."

But Sirius shook his head and pushed Hagrid's hand off of him. "No they're not. They can't be dead."

"You-know-who killed 'em jus' minutes ago."

"NO!" Sirius shouted, unaware that he was starting to cry. "No they're not! They are not dead!" How could Hagrid say such lies! "They're not dead!"

But then Hagrid pointed to a spot which was four meters from where they stood. A black blanket, waving in the wind, was covering something. Sirius shuffled his heavy legs over to it. He fell down on his knees and lift the blanket, but only a little.

"No," he said, shaking his head and sobbing. "No," he said again. It was James. His eyes were lifeless and looking to the stars. His mouth was open slightly but exhaled no breath, no laughter. Sirius couldn't help himself latching onto James. He picked him up; he was heavy and cold. His arms were limp and flimsy. His head flopped backwards. "James," Sirius whined. "James," he said again, shaking him a little. But James didn't wake up. "James, no," Sirius cried. He felt his tears roll down his cheeks and neck. "You promised," he said as he set James down. "You promised..." he howled. He had never felt more pain in his life. It was like someone was tearing at his heart with a dull knife; hacking away slowly.

James was looking up. His eyes weren't moving, only his lashes fluttered in the breeze. Sirius passed his hand over James's face and closed the eyes. Then he shut the mouth so it looked like he was sleeping. He pulled the blanket back over his head.

Someone else was crying, too. Sirius looked at Hagrid and saw, to his surprise, a moving bundle in his arms. Sirius walked over to Hagrid again, stumbling on rubble. "Harry," he said breathlessly. 

Harry was snuggled within a fluffy blanket. His skin was dusty and his clothes were dirty, but he was alive. Hagrid held a cloth to Harry's head and rocked him. Harry looked like he had been crying off and on for a short period of time, for dried tear streaks left paths on his dusty face.

"He's okay," Sirius said, crying more. "Harry's safe and healthy." He grabbed Harry's hand. "Hagrid, what happened?"

"You-know-who turned up. He killed James firs' I think. I found Harry with Lily's body, up in that room," he said, pointing to the most secure part of the house. "Look," Hagird said, pulling back the cloth on Harry's forehead. "You-know-who tried to kill Harry, too. Tha's what this is, I reckon. Here's where You-know-who touched him." There, just a little above Harry's right eyebrow, was a gleaming cut, shaped like a bolt of lightning. "It's still bleedin," Hagrid said and replaced the cloth.

"H-How?" Sirius asked.

Hagrid shrugged. "I don' know. But he's gone. You-know-who is gone. He's powerless and alone. He couldn' kill Harry."

But Sirius somehow didn't really care about Voldemort. Still crying, he reached for Harry, as if to take him, but Hagrid pulled him away.

"Hagrid," Sirius said, "give him to me."

"I can't," he said, shaking his head violently.

"But they appointed me as his godfather! If anything happened to them they wanted me to take Harry. Please, give him to me."

"No. Dumbledore gave me orders ter take Harry ter his aunt an' uncle's house. I can't give him ter yeh, Sirius."

"But I promised James," Sirius said, anger rising in his throat. "I promised him that I would take care of his family. I gave him my word that I would take good care of Harry and make sure he was happy! I promised him, Hagrid. Give Harry to me, please!"

But Hagrid stood firm against him. He even tightened his grip on Harry as if fearing Sirius would grab him and run for it. "Sirius you hafta understand. Dumbledore told me ter take Harry. I can't give him ter yeh."

"Lily hasn't talked to her sister in years. She hates her sister and that husband of hers. They appointed me! They want me to take care of Harry! I'll take good care of him. I love him so much, Hagrid please let me have him. I promised my best friend that I would raise him good; like he's mine. Hagrid I'm begging you to give him to me!"

"No," Hagrid said again, this time more firmly. "I hafta go now. I hafta take him."

"But Hagrid-- "

"No, Sirius. I'm sorry, but I can' give him ter yeh. I have me orders. Talk ter Dumbledore about it. I'm sure yeh can work it out with him. Now please, Sirius, we hafta go."

Sirius couldn't think of anything else to say to sway the argument. Harry was still crying, reaching out for someone. Sirius wanted to take him. He wanted to hold him and keep him. But Dumbledore's orders... Dumbledore thinks you did this, his mind told him. A huge weight dropped in his stomach. You have done it, of course. You made them replace you with Peter. Peter was the spy, you fool. Why didn't you see it before? It was so obvious. You killed them, Sirius, you killed them. James is dead because of you. Lily is dead because of you. Harry is an orphan and alone because of you. But he brought his mind back to the present problem.

"Take my motorcycle," Sirius choked. "You'll be able to get Harry there quickly and safely."

"Yer motorbike?" Hagrid asked.

"Yes. Take Harry on it and get him to the house safely. Take it, Hagrid. The keys are still in the ignition. Just turn them and the engine kicks in. It's very simple to drive."

"I heard that yeh loved that motorbike."

"I don't need it any longer. Hagrid please take it and get Harry there safely."

Hagrid eventually agreed. Sirius walked Harry and Hagrid to it and gave him a brief overview on its operations. Hagrid sat down on it, revved the engine, and looked back at Sirius and the ruin that lay behind him. "He's gone," he said.

Sirius didn't listen. He bent down and looked at Harry, who was still crying. Holding back his own tears, Sirius blew into Harry's face, like James would do. Harry chuckled a little.

"I'll come for you," Sirius whispered to him. "I'll find you. I love you, Harry. I promise I'll find you."

"Bye, Sirius. Take care o' yerself." And Hagrid engaged the clutch and drove off. Sirius watched as they ascended into the starry sky. He watched until he couldn't see them anymore or hear the roar of the engine. 

The Wizard Crime unit would be here in seconds... He had to run for it. Dumbledore thought it was him, and Jade... Jade thought it was him. Sirius jogged over to the black blanket, took a deep breath, and pulled it up. James was just as Sirius had left him, but Lily was not. Biting his lip to keep from sobbing again, Sirius bent down and shut her eyes and mouth.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry," he cried. "It's all my fault and I'm sorry. I ripped you away from him and for that I must be punished. Please forgive me," he said. "Please, if you can hear me, wherever you are, forgive me. I don't even deserve your forgiveness," he said, shaking his head. "I killed my best friends," he cried. He took Lily's cold hand and kissed it. "Lily, I'm sorry. I'll take care of him for you. I won't do as good as you would have, but I'll try. I'm so sorry!" he wailed. "I'm so sorry!" He covered their bodies back up with the black blanket and began to run towards London. With each step he ran, blinded by tears, his anger grew. 

Sirius transformed. He always traveled faster in his Animagius form, but his emotions were less human this way. He didn't want to feel like this. He didn't want to see their lifeless faces burned against his eyes. He ran as fast as his four legs could carry him. 

When the sun rose, only one thought filtered through his mind. "Peter."  
  


But when the sun rose, something happened that he did not intend. Sirius was roaming the streets of London as a human. He had run all night long as a dog. Peter was here somewhere and he was going to find him. But that task would be made very difficult by the hundreds of witches and wizards who were filling the Muggle streets. Sirius passed big groups of them and caught words of their conversations. "Yes," they said, "You-know-who is gone! Harry Potter has saved us all!"

Owls zoomed over head in broad daylight. The Muggles were pointing to the sky at them. Wizards and witches kept hugging strangers and exclaimed the good news. "He-who-must-not-be-named has gone! Celebrate, for Harry Potter has saved the day!"

All of these happy people kept jostling Sirius as he walked down the streets, wand in his hand. He had to keep wiping his eyes with his free hand every minute or so, otherwise he wouldn't be able to see. He really wished these wizards would get out of his way. He turned a corner and pushed his way against more people.

A woman ran past him and bumped him pretty good.

"Sorry," she said as she passed. Sirius turned back to look at her-- Peter was walking behind her. His eyes widened in shock and he froze.

"Peter," Sirius said through clenched teeth. 

Peter backed away from Sirius, his eyes darting all around him.

"You vermin," Sirius growled.

"Sirius Black!" Peter yelled, getting the attention of several people on the street. "H-How could you?" he yelled, pointing his finger at Sirius. "They trusted you, Sirius!"

Sirius frowned at him.

"Lily and James trusted you with their lives and look what you did!" he yelled, lifting theDaily Prophet up into the air. The headline read: 'You-know-who: Gone. Harry Potter is the Boy who Lived!' "James and Lily Potter trusted you!"

The wizards across the street stopped and looked when they heard that. Muggles were watching too, as the little man accused the other. "You killed them, Sirius! You killed them!"

Gasps from the crowd reached Sirius's ears. He was so enraged he could explode. Peter was still pointing at him and accusing him of crimes he had committed. Sirius stopped hearing them and instead focused on what he had set out to do. He pulled his wand out and pointed it at Peter. What happened then was so fast, Sirius hardly knew what transpired.

A huge flash of light consumed Peter. Sirius covered his eyes it was so bright. Then he felt the earth shake; several people screamed; then even more screamed and yelled in terror. Sirius opened his eyes. 

A dozen Muggles, by his guess, lay motionless and bloody on the street. Blood was pooling on the sidewalk, women were screaming, as some of the blood was on them. Body parts were completely missing from the corpses. But Sirius tore his eyes from that horror and looked to another. With his mouth slightly open, Sirius walked to a huge crater in the street. It was positioned exactly where Peter had been standing; in front of the dead bodies. Bloody robes and bits of skin and blood were all that remained. A long finger, without its hand, was pointing at the hole. Sirius looked down in it.

It was so deep that it had cracked the sewer line. A few black rats were making their way down and out of the daylight which was piercing their home. Sirius fell to his knees; his wand rolled down the sidewalk. He stared down into that hole, watching the rats.

Sirius smiled and shook his head. He felt a maniacal fire ignite inside of him. The rats! he thought. Sirius chuffed once, his eyes crinkled with laughter. He couldn't help himself; he had to laugh. He had been framed and fooled, or fooled and framed. The order didn't matter. Sirius felt the laugh down in his belly and he let it come out. He sounded crazy; he sounded deranged. The witnesses to this murder gasped at him, pointing the fingers. Sirius didn't care.

He felt two sets of hands grab his arms and pull him back. He didn't struggle; he kept right on laughing. The owners of the hands threw him face down on the pavement and shackled his hands behind his back. Then they lift him up and carried him to a large van which had appeared out of nowhere.

No less than twelve wizards in uniformed robes were looking at him cautiously. Around eight or nine more were talking to the Muggle witnesses. A short man with a green bowler hat came up to Sirius with a clip board.

"Are you Sirius Black?" he asked firmly. 

Sirius laughed some more. "Yes," he said nodding his head. The man nodded to his Hit Wizards. They pushed Sirius roughly into the back of the van and closed the doors. The man smacked the back of the van and it drove off. He walked into a nearby business and asked to use a fireplace. They were so occupied with watching the happenings outside, that they didn't think about the strangeness of the request.

He threw some powder into the fire and called for Albus Dumbledore.

"Cornelius," Dumbledore said gravely.

"Dumbledore," Fudge said with a nod. "You'll be happy to know that Sirius Black has been apprehended. Unfortunately, though, he has killed 12 Muggles and a wizard. From what we have so far, it's Peter Pettigrew. The only parts left of him are small fragments and his robes. I shall write a full report of the issue as we get out information in. But you said you wanted to know when we got him. You say Black was the Potter's Secret-Keeper?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said. "He was. I was there when the Fidelius charm was performed."

"Well," Fudge said, "we'll be sure to include that on the incarceration records. He'll spend life in Azkaban for this one. You can expect my full report shortly."

Dumbledore nodded sadly. "Thank you." 

Fudge nodded then disappeared. Dumbledore folded his hands and sauntered to his desk. He sighed and laid his heavy hands on his desktop. A great package lay to his right. He started to unwrap it when his office door burst open and Severus Snape glided in, positively fuming. 

"You said," Snape started as he threw a copy of The Daily Prophet on his desk, "that everything would be fine!" He pointed at the headline and the pictures of Lily and James underneath. The photos were from the wedding; James and Lily were smiling. "This," Snape continued, pointing at the sub heading of James and Lily Potter dead; son Harry survives death, "is not what we planned. I risked my life telling you the Dark Lord was after them. And now they are dead! This is your fault!"

Dumbledore raised his hand. "Please calm down."

"Calm down?" he said. He whipped his greasy black hair out of his face. "Calm down?"

"Yes, Severus. Voldemort is gone."

"You don't know that for certain. It's a rumor. You don't know-- " 

"Oh but I do, Severus. I do know that he is gone. The Fortress of Shadows has been found because he is gone. The Ministry Hit Wizards raided it this morning. We could never have found it before because it remained hidden by sustaining its secrecy from Voldemort's powers. Now that they have gone, his lair has been exposed. So," he said, trying to sound cheerful, "you should celebrate like so many others."

"How come they died?" he pressed on.

"Sirius Black, their Secret-Keeper. The Junior Minister of the Magical Catastrophes Department has just informed me that he has been caught. He is being taken to Azkaban as we speak."

"Black?" Snape said in disbelief. "Sirius Black?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said grievously. "They insisted on using Sirius instead of me. He will be punished."

Snape collapsed in a chair. "He never told us why he went after them. Was it because they were in the Order, the IWBI? Why did he want to kill the boy?"

Dumbledore started unwrapping the large package again. He tore off the brown paper and cast it into the fire. What lay before him was a large, scarlet book. It was bound in a velveteen material. "This," Dumbledore said, "was found in the Fortress of Shadows, in Voldemort's private office. It was stolen from the Bones's five years ago, when you were in your sixth year here. At the time we didn't know what it was or why Voldemort would want it. But it certainly explains some things. I have not personally seen it, but the Hit Wizards say it's very impressive."

Snape frowned. "So what is it?"

"A record of lineage. Geneology."

Snape shrugged and raised an eyebrow.

Dumbledore explained as he opened the book. "There was a prophecy around a thousand years ago. It told of the heir of Gryffindor slaying the heir of Slytherin. Slytherin, who had a son, feared that if Gryffindor were to reproduce, his child would kill his own. Slytherin killed Gryffindor before he could reproduce. Now here is the mystery of it all. Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin. Undoubtably he found out about the prophecy. When we learned, and I mean myself and other wizards who need to know such things, that Voldemort was Slytherin's heir, the search for Gryffindor's began. But Gryffindor never married. No offspring were ever found.

"Even stranger still, James Potter received a prophecy from our own Sybil Trelawny telling him that Voldemort would find him. She said that only the heir of Gryffindor could stop Voldemort. I told James what I have just told you; that Gryffindor had no children."

Dumbledore swerved the book around so that Snape could read it. "But what none of us considered," he continued, "was that while Gryffindor had never married, it was possible that he had children." He then tapped the blank book page with his wand and a picture of a bearded man appeared. The name "Godric Gryffindor" was underneath the picture. Then the photo shrank a little and allowed a second picture to appear, this one of a woman who's name was "Eva Rochelle." Then the page turned and repeated the process. This time it was a girl who appeared first. "Rita Rochelle."

"Wait," Snape said.

"That's correct," Dumbledore affirmed. "Gryffindor had a mistress by the name of Eva Rochelle. She was six weeks pregnant when her secret lover was murdered. Out of fear for her unborn child, Eva removed all of her records and placed them in this book. She also made sure to name her child after her own surname, not that of her father's. So, Severus, watch and learn."

Dumbledore sped the page turning process. With each page the new child would pair with someone of the opposite sex. The last name changed several times, and branched off as well. Snape was getting bored until "Potter" came into play.

A picture of Byron Potter appeared. It linked with a Samantha White. The page turned. James Potter appeared; he linked with Lily Evans. Then the page turned for the last time and showed a photo of Harry as he appeared at that very moment; scar and all. Only with this page, a lion walked across and rest under the label "Harry Potter; Gryffindor's Heir."

Snape looked at Dumbledore quickly. "He's the heir of Gryffindor?"

"Yes," he replied. "Yes I'm afraid he is. He will be the one. The one we've been waiting for," Dumbledore muttered under his breath.

"Where is he?" Snape asked.

"With Hagrid at the moment. I will be taking him to his aunt and uncle's home tonight. I have a very busy day ahead of me, as well as a busy night. It's hard to believe that Voldemort is gone. Still, I suggest we enjoy it. I have to thank you, Snape. Without your spy work most of this wouldn't have happened. Who knows what would be different if you had kept it to yourself. Harry might have been dead if it wasn't for you."

Snape didn't respond. He curled his lips in a sneer and nodded to the Headmaster as he left. Dumbledore pulled out a piece of parchment and addressed it to the Dursleys. Before he started his long explanation, he cast a look to one of his shelves where James's wrapped invisibility cloak waited. He smiled sadly and continued to write.

****

Run off from the main stream washed up a brown rat that afternoon. He crawled out onto a rock, wet and tired, and began a short journey. A sign post read: Ottery St. Catchpole, 2 kilometers. The rat noticed that it was the closest civilization possible. He trotted down the road, drying as he ran.

****

Remus spent that day in the park, sitting on a bench. Fireworks and owls ignited all around him, but he didn't share in the joy. Of all the times he had been right, now was the worst. Sirius was the spy; he knew it now. But Remus couldn't figure out why he had done it. James and Sirius were brothers; two peas in a pod; inseparable. But Sirius had killed his brother. Sirius had killed Lily. Sirius wanted to have had Harry killed.

Remus shook his head and groaned. He wanted to talk to Sonja about it, but she was gone. Her shop was completely cleared out, her apartment was empty. She didn't even leave him a note. He was half expecting her to turn up and join in with the celebrations, but she didn't.

Remus spent a good part of that day weeping, for he was alone. Every friend he had was dead or gone. Sirius had killed them and now he was going to prison for life.

"Damn you, Sirius," Remus said to himself, watching the dark sky fill with shooting stars. "Damn you."

****

"Sirius Black, you are hereby charged with the murder of Peter Pettigrew, Alice Sanchez, Debbie Karlile, Alex Croft, Donald Webster, Rebecca Winter, Cassandra Harrison, Michael Parker, Robert McGovern, William O'neil, Patrick Ferguson, Nicole Smith, and Katherine Spelling. You are also charged with conspiracy to murder on two counts for James Potter and Lily Potter. You have also been charged with attempted murder on Harry Potter. For these crimes you have been sentenced to life in the Azkaban wizard prison. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore has provided evidence showing that you were the Potter's Secret-Keeper. You will have no chance at parole. May God have mercy on your soul," the gavel pounded and Sirius was led away.

Two towering dementors flanked him as they led him to the high security dungeons. He was shivering; their rattling breath caused him to wince.

The prisoners were yelling at him, clanking their cups against the doors at him. He passed other new prisoners who were being thrown in. They looked just as composed as he did, though not innocent. The dementors stopped in front of a small, empty cell and opened the door. One of them shoved Sirius inside. The door clanked with locks behind him.

Sirius stood there for an hour, staring at nothing but the hay on the floor. It was loud in here. The prisoners were loud and cruel. He looked down at his grey robes, patched and frayed. They smelled of mold and dust. 

He shuffled over to the corner of his cell, hardly believing that he was here at all. This time last week he was happy and free; engaged; accompanied by great friends; loved. Now... 

He suspected that a dementor was right outside his cell. He kept seeing those lifeless eyes staring up at him. James's eyes. Lily's magical eyes...

Sirius sniffed and curled up into a ball. "Promise me you'll take care of them..." he thought. "Take my place. Make sure they're happy..." He kept thinking of the last time he had seen them alive. He should have told them how much they meant to him. Why didn't he tell James he was like a brother to him? Why didn't he tell Lily that she had come to be his best friend? Why didn't he knock Hagrid out and take Harry and run for it? Why did he have to go to London and run into Peter? Why didn't he see how obvious it was that Peter was the spy? Why couldn't he kill Peter? How did Peter get away? Where was Peter now? Why didn't he tell Jade he loved her so much? Why didn't he tell her that he had switched with Peter, or that they were Animagi? 

Thinking of the answers brought him to more grief. He thought of Jade and what she must be going through. She probably thought he was a murderer. He thought he was. He wondered about Harry. Would his aunt accept him? Surely she would. It was impossible not to love Harry. They would love him, wouldn't they? His mother sure loved him. She loved everyone, but Harry most of all. He thought of how happy she was when she was around James. She was such a talented witch, a kind woman, a protective mother, a good friend. 

But James was the one who kept floating across his mind. His brother, James. They did everything together, even if it was against the rules. Sirius remembered a time when they were kids and they nearly caught fire... or tricking out the toilets in the Slytherin dungeons to back fire... James making his first goal, striking the air with his fist... making team captain... finally getting Lily... marrying her... Harry.

Just as he thought he was about to fall into a shallow sleep, a stray memory surfaced. Voices inside his head began to speak. He recognized one voice as his own. He had to be around five years old. The other voice belonged to James.

"...we'll be best friends forever, won't we James?" he had asked, some seventeen years ago.

"Yeah," James answered back, sounding as if he was grinning. "Best friends forever..."  
  


* * *

Please continue on to the epilogue.


	34. Epilogue

~Epilogue~  
  


Jade Yang caught the news like everyone else in the wizarding world, but it's safe to say it affected her much differently. It was the most surreal experience of her life to watch the world celebrate while she was so upset, so consumed with pain that breathing actually hurt. She couldn't believe that Sirius would do such a thing to his best friend, to her best friend and their son. She convinced herself that something was missing. She knew that what she was doing was a defense mechanism, but she was far from caring about it.

It was still devastation beyond her most horrible nightmares. Her fiancé was accused and charged with the murder of three of his friends and a dozen innocent Muggles. The news thrashed her. Strange looks cast by people she knew followed her everywhere. She quit her job.

She stayed with her parents for six months until she could look at her reflection in the mirror and not break into sobs. When she felt she was ready to go back out into the world, she got a poor paying job for a magazine drawing pictures. But it was when she started to critique the articles she illustrated, she really started to fit in again. She went to her editor with the revised articles; how she thought her way sounded better. She was promoted.

With a new confidence, a new job, and a new home, Jade went to Dumbledore one year after the world changed. She asked him for one thing and one thing only: Harry. She said that Harry was all she could think about and she wasn't lying. After all, Lily was her best friend and she wanted to take Harry and raise him as her own son in Lily's honor ans spirit. To her severe disappointment Dumbledore said no. He told her that Harry already had a home with Lily's sister, and that Harry would have to stay there.

Jade doubted Dumbledore's judgement from that day on. She left Hogwarts with a feeling of loss.

In late 1982 while she was working on writing and art, Jade bumped into a man on the street. He was tall; he had dark hair, light blue eyes, and a great smile. He reminded her very much of Sirius. He said 'excuse me,' and continued on his path. Jade kept watching him walk away feeling herself smile. He turned around to see if she was still looking, then beamed. Jade smiled back but kept on her way.

A month later she bumped into him in the exact same spot. He mentioned what a coincidence it was and asked for her name. She told him. He exchanged his personal information. The hit it off.

After dating for a year, they got engaged. Brett Deverauex proposed to her on her birthday, dressed in knight's armor atop a white horse.

Brett and Jade live in the country not far outside of London. They have three children: Vanessa, Halley, and Clayton. Brett, an architect, built their home just after Vanessa was born. He included a personal office and studio for Jade, which she loved. Brett has designed such buildings as the Quidditch Stadiums used in World Cup matches. Jade published a fiction novel, has drawn entire murals for her children's walls, and raised her babies at home.  
  


Sonja Woods was caught just outside Paris a few weeks after Voldemort's fall. She had been given up as the source to the IWBI's security breech. The ring, found in the home of Kim Philby, was traced back to her. It was given to her by her father, Abner Woods, who had stolen a sample of the black Obsidian from the Apparation Chamber, and embedded it inside a silver ring.

Sonja plead guilty to giving the ring to Philby. Her reasons were emotional, alleging that Ashika Narayan had killed her father and she wanted vengeance. 

She was sentenced to only two years in a minimum security prison. Once out, she left England and lived in Paris, where she has reopened shop.  
  


Kim Philby was sentenced to Azkaban for life for attempted murder. He still resides there today.  
  


Ashika Narayan awoke from her coma in December of 1981. She was informed by her Healer that the IWBI was destroyed; Voldemort had fallen at the hands of the child Harry Potter; and that she would have scars from her burns for the rest of her life.

Ashika informed him that Kim Philby had attacked her. She provided evidence at Philby's trial and confirmed that Philby was wearing the silver ring. After her testimony, she disappeared. It has been rumored that she went back to India. Some have even said that she married and had six children. Dumbledore said it was laughable; each rumor was just as unlikely as the next.

Elizabeth Banks showed her face once more at James and Lily's funeral. At the reception she met up with Remus, who was there alone. She talked to him about what had happened; he told her all that he knew. She consoled him. She advised him that he move on and try to forget it all, then left. She married a man ten years her senior, but never had children. She's now divorced but seeing someone newer and younger.  
  


Celeste Gellar received a short letter, which arrived by falcon. She gave Dumbledore her two weeks notice and resigned from the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. She traveled far and met up with Narayan. She was recruited, once more, into the IWBI...  
  


Griphook, a goblin working for Gringotts bank, was welcomed by a falcon carrying a letter. There was a small note attached to the letter which read: _please put this in vault 687, James Potter's vault. _Griphook put the letter on top of the gold; it was buried as the years ticked by, for the interest on the large sum of money stacked up.

Artemis flew away, no longer in service, and was mother to several chicks.  
  


The letter inside that envelope wasn't read for years, but it was read eventually by the addressee. Here is what it said:  
  


_Harry,_

_If you are reading this letter it can only mean that I am not here with you. I hope you won't find this until you're old and have great grandchildren who are getting married and planing families of their own. But we live in a world where fairy tales are not always possible. It is still hard for me to come to grips with that because my whole life has been just that; a beautiful fairy tale. Still I fear that my end will not include 'happily ever after.' That is why I am writing to you._

_ You are just fifteen months old now and quite precocious. There has yet to be a time when you haven't made me smile. Each time I look at you I feel a warmth I could have never dreamed. It's deep within my heart, this feeling. I can't give it justice but I will try to describe it to you. I believe it is great love and pride wrapped into one. But there's protection there as well, Harry. I keep this feeling for you so deep inside of me to protect it, to protect you. The feeling never goes away and never will, not even when you've made quite a mess and I have to clean up after you. Each time I think of you or look at you I am amazed that I could love anything that much._

_ As I write this, I must confess, it brings me to tears. You're so small yet I have so much pride for you. I've taken you to my work and shown you to people. I tell them that you are my son. My son. You don't really like strangers at your age, but they sure like you. People who I have never met in my life come up to me and tell me how perfect you are. I know it's not my ego when I tell them I know that you are. You're perfect. Your mother and I knew you would be. You are perfect and no one else could ever be more perfect than you are._

_ There are so many things I want to say to you, but not enough time in the universe to say them. I suppose I'll have to make with the time I have._

_ You will grow. It's one of those things in nature that not even wizards can stop. Magic cannot affect all things. Humans are just creatures which inhabit the planet. Only a few of them are wizards and we only perform the magic which has been given to us. But I digress. When you grow in size you will learn things that I cannot teach you, but what you must learn for yourself. I can tell you all that I know, but you will still starve for knowledge and truth. It is hard to find but I believe it's out there waiting for you to discover it. _

_ When you are eleven your mother and I will take you to school. Simply thinking about it makes me nervous and I can't imagine how hysterical your mother will be. When I put you on the train you will learn to take care of you. You will grow. You will grow to perform magic, make friends and probably enemies, and hopefully to follow the rules. I must admit I never really did the latter. Rules were for people who didn't know how to have fun. I hope you learn how to have fun without breaking rules, Harry. But even if you don't, that's all right by me. I may get mad at you, but I will always love you and never want you to change._

_ You will never stop growing. For us it seems to take longer. By 'us' I mean men. Our maturity takes time and Lily would argue, along with many other women, that we never grow up. Thinking about the things I've done or would like to do, I believe women have a point. But even if we take our young children out for joy rides when they can't string a sentence together, we do grow. I have changed a lot since you were born, or I would like to think I have. When you were born I felt a huge responsibility on top of my shoulders. It wasn't a bad thing, Harry, don't think of that way. The weight Lily had put on me was heavy, but not as heavy as you. I learned to walk with the weight and as the time ticked by I have grown stronger. Responsibilities never go away; you only learn to deal with them better. I believe they are like energy, if you're good at science you will understand. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. It comes to us in different forms. I don't ever want my responsibility for you to change form._

_ Some people tend to think responsibility is a bad thing; a demon that needs to be cursed back into hell. These people are all around you, Harry, and they always will be. They think anything that makes them accountable for their actions, anything that limits their time or energy is a horrible thing. I have met people like this and you will, too. You won't see them at first, it takes time, but it will come out of them in some form. _

_ You are responsible for you and your actions. Once we send you away to primary school at age five, we will have taught you what is right and what is wrong. It is your responsibility to keep to that. I would say most people can tell what is right from wrong, but they choose to do what is wrong. Sometimes it is easier to make a bad choice than to live with the good one. I urge you to always make the good choice, even if it does bring you responsibility. Remember, responsibility is good, Harry. You must live with your choices. You can never change the past. I promise you that if you make the good choices, you will not regret it. It may take time, a great deal of time, before you realize this, but in the end you will know you were right; you will be proud of what you have done._

_ I suppose now I should tell you about some simpler ideas. Friendship being just one of those. The word 'friendship' is an idea. A 'friend' is real. What you should remember is you can choose your friends. Make good choices. There's an old adage that goes 'You can choose your friends but you can't choose your relatives.' I hope you will never use that against me! That would mean you were unhappy with your mother and me. But in any event the adage is true. Choose wisely. Look for people like you. Not just like you, of course, for you will spend forever searching; there is no one just like you. Look for people who value value, Harry. There are people who see the good in others, but are aware of the bad as well. Find them. Look for the realists who can dream, the honest who can talk to you straight, the caring who will watch over you, the humorous who can learn to laugh at something serious. Finding these people may be hard, but it may be easier than you think. They are out there. You will be one of them, as I am one and so is your mother. My best friend, your godfather, is. Friends are more precious than all the gold in Gringotts. Horde them, son. Find good friends and keep them forever._

_ Your enemies will also be out there. It wouldn't be life if you didn't run into people you can't stand. They may exemplify their hate towards you openly, in which case they are simple to find. They may, however, hide themselves with a grin. I have met only the first, I hope. My school enemy hated me outside and from within himself. But in all fairness to my enemy, I hated him just as much. I would like to think that as we grew up in school we lessened in our aggressions toward each other. Still, that does not excuse my behavior previous to that period in time. We hated each other like poison and always will. Life isn't a story. The bad guys don't always turn out to like you by the last pages of the book. Some people will always hate you. Even more people will dislike you, for hate is a strong emotion. But you can deal with that; you can roll with the punches. Do not spend your time worrying about what your enemies think of you. Why should you care? Do not try to impress them with your superior wit or talents. Know that you can take the high road. I hope you can; I could not._

_ Lean to listen to people. The eyes are the windows to the soul, but the mouth is the door. What you say reflects who you are. So it is the same for others. If you listen and listen well, you can know someone. They may not do what they say, but they know they should if they have said it. I know this is confusing right now, but when you grow up and find these people, that is when you will understand._

_ It is far easier to talk than to do. Try with all your might to do what you say. And be sure to reflect in words your actions. It is a challenge of paramount proportions. You will fail at this time and time again, but you must never give up._

_ Never give up, Harry. When you have a goal, and you will have many, go for it. The only person who can stop you from reaching your goal is you. The people who stand in your way are merely obstacles; Beaters, Chasers, and the Keeper who can be avoided. They will try to interfere, they may even set you off course, but when you find your Snitch in life, make sure you grasp it and never let it go._

_ There are some things I will not have to teach or will be able to teach. Some character traits are inborn and cannot be grown with time. These traits are courage, bravery, compassion, loyalty, and the ability to love. Many people would contest that, but I strongly believe that not all humans have these traits. Not many people have all of them. I consider a human lucky if he or she has at least one. After walking through crowds of my fellow man I have come to realize that some people are simply cattle following the lead steer. You will not be one who goes with the herd for the herd doesn't always know where they are going or who they are. Please pardon my metaphor, but I think you now know what I mean. These great traits of our species, of only our species, are inborn, as I said. What parents and friends do is to bring these traits out. We will know if you are courageous, brave, compassionate, loyal, or loving very soon. We can try to bring them out of you, son, but it is only you who can unveil them._

_ So now let me talk to you about love. Love is the easiest thing to do. Falling in love is even easier. I don't really think you can control your love, which can be very good but very dangerous as well. One day, Harry, you will meet a woman whom you will love and who will love you in return. It may take twenty or thirty years to find her, but you will. When you find her and you know she is the one for you, get down on your knee and propose. Marrying Lily was the best thing I have ever done. Marry her led me to you. There is no greater love than in a parent for a child. Remember that._

_ But it can also be very dangerous. A love for another may lead you to harm. I hope this phrase will always confuse you, but know that love is powerful. People will do crazy things out of love, also dangerous things._

_ Be careful with your love. When she loves you, Harry, treat her right. You will know, from the feelings within your own heart, that she is the one who can hurt you the most. It also plays the other way. Don't hurt her. Never make her cry. _

_ You'll know you're in love if you want her happiness above your own. If you wish for her safety and her smile more than your own desires or ambitions, then you are truly in love. Simply having warm and fuzzy feelings for a woman is not love. You must know her deep secrets, her desires, what makes her happy, what makes her sad, and where you fit into her life. I know you will fall in love. It may take a while for you to meet the woman of your dreams, or it may take you a while to discover that she is the one for you. It may take only a second._

_ But the gist of it all is this: Love is the greatest magic of all. It overcomes many things, even what you can't expect._

_ I believe I should end this letter on that note. But I want to reaffirm that I love you, Harry, and I am so proud of the person you are now. I know your small but I also know that you will do great things and I will still be proud._  
  


_With fatherly love,_

_ Dad_  
  
  
  


  
  


And so the journey ends. I have spent over a year writing this story, dreaming about the next chapter, writing the small adventures of James and Sirius, and now it comes to an end. I confess that I cried both when I ended it and when I had to kill my favorite character in the story. I kept telling myself it wasn't real, it wasn't even my own ending, it was just a story. But for me, the past year has been spent with some great friends. I have grown to love James and Sirius, above the others, and have truly enjoyed my time spent with them. I knew all along that I would have to kill James, but I never imagined how hard it would be for me.

But it is just a story. If you are reading this now then you probably share my love for it, but it is just a story. I have probably made you cry because of the ending and how I wrote the deaths. Please know that if I could have changed the plot line, I would have. But I tried to keep to the plot line of J.K. Rowling's world; the world we love far too much.

I only say this because I know someone will tell me how horrible I was for making the ending so hard to endure, for making it so sad. But I really didn't have a choice. I knew as I wrote the first line of this story that I was going to take it to the end.

But I promise you this: I will not write a sad ending again. It hurt too much. If you want to continue reading my work, and I hope you do, remember that I will never leave you an ending like this one. I will never cry out an ending due to content again.

I know I am not the greatest writer and I know I need improvement. Still, I am proud of this story. There are elements that I would like to change, but can't because the whole thing would then be scrapped. I am aware of my flaws. They stand out in this story and probably won't be so obvious in my next. It is hard to change halfway through one story. I would have, but couldn't. I hope I don't sound like I'm rambling on...

I started out this story as a new writer; it was my first story ever. I was weak with character development, grammar, syntax, and other things. I think now I am much better at character development. It will take me a while to get everything else down to a science.

The Human Condition is a much stronger work of mine. The characters are much better defined, the story moves very fast, and I'm working with different elements of genre and human emotion. I hope all of you jump over there and check it out. I have two chapters posted.  
  


And now I would like to say thanks. Thanks to all of you who have given me praise, even to those who have critiqued me. You made me work faster on the next chapter; you made me smile when I opened my email. Thank you so much. Please join me for my next foray into fan fiction.

It's been a fun year,

~C.K. Talons


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